In a two way cable system that includes a controller and a plurality of user terminals, a method of granting rights for upstream data transmission from the user terminals includes processing contention requests to generate contention grants and maintaining a list of connections, each connection having specified therefor a predetermined bit rate. The controller sends a downstream data stream to the user terminals and receives an upstream data stream from the user terminals. The downstream data stream includes a plurality of grant fields, and the upstream data stream includes upstream data slots and upstream control slots. The method further includes scheduling preemptive grants for upstream data slots using selected fields of the plurality of grant fields so as to provide preemptive grants for upstream data transport at a bit rate specified for each connection, sending to the user terminals a data transmission grant in a grant field of the plurality of grant fields for which a preemptive grant is scheduled, and sending to the user terminals a data transmission grant in a grant field of the plurality of grant fields in which a contention grant is pending and no preemptive grant is scheduled.
|
105. A method employed in a two way communications system comprising a controller and a plurality of user terminals, the two way communications system capable of carrying information flows and bursts of data of the plurality of user terminals, the controller transmitting downstream information to the plurality of user terminals on at least one downstream channel, the plurality of user terminals transmitting upstream information to the controller on at least one shared upstream channel of a shared communications medium, the bandwidth of the at least one shared upstream channel being divided into upstream time slots, the upstream time slots capable of carrying reservation requests and data, at least one media access control mechanism being used to resolve contention for transmission on the at least one shared upstream channel, an upstream information transmission of at least one first user terminal of the plurality of user terminals capable of colliding on the at least one shared upstream channel with an upstream information transmission of at least one second user terminal of the plurality of user terminals, the method comprising the steps of:
maintaining a first information flow, the first information flow being associated with at least one service parameter, the first information flow having a quality of service indicated by the at least one service parameter;
receiving notice of a first grant from the controller responsive to the controller scheduling of the first grant, the first grant message indicating an allocation of at least one first upstream time slot to carry data that is at least part of the first information flow; and
disregarding notice of a second grant from the controller, the notice of the second grant indicating the allocation of a second grant of at least one second upstream time slot to the at least one second user terminal, the second grant generated by the controller responsive to the at least one second user terminal sending a reservation request that solicits the second grant to carry a requested burst of data, the requested burst of data having a requested burst size of finite amount.
93. A method employed in a two way communications system comprising a controller and a plurality of user terminals, the two way communications system capable of carrying information flows and bursts of data of the plurality of user terminals, the controller transmitting downstream information to the plurality of user terminals on at least one downstream channel, the plurality of user terminals transmitting upstream information to the controller on at least one shared upstream channel of a shared communications medium, the bandwidth of the at least one shared upstream channel being divided into upstream time slots, the upstream time slots capable of carrying reservation requests and data, at least one media access control mechanism being used to resolve contention for transmission on the at least one shared upstream channel, an upstream information transmission of at least one first user terminal of the plurality of user terminals capable of colliding on the at least one shared upstream channel with an upstream information transmission of at least one second user terminal of the plurality of user terminals, the method comprising the steps of:
sending a reservation request that solicits a first grant of at least one first upstream time slot to carry a requested burst of data, the requested burst of data having a requested burst size of finite amount;
maintaining a first information flow, the first information flow being associated with at least one service parameter, the first information flow having a quality of service indicated by the at least one service parameter;
receiving notice of the first grant from the controller responsive to the reservation request that solicits the first grant, the notice of the first grant indicating an allocation of the at least one first upstream time slot to carry a granted burst of data, the granted burst of data having a granted burst size and comprising a finite amount of data; and
receiving notice of a second grant from the controller responsive to the controller scheduling of a second grant, the notice of the second grant indicating an allocation of the at least one second upstream time slot to carry data that is at least part of the first information flow.
0. 117. A method for scheduling data transmissions, wherein the method is employed in a two-way communications system comprising a controller and a plurality of stations, the two-way communications system capable of carrying information flows and bursts of data of the plurality of stations, the controller transmitting downstream information to the plurality of stations on at least one downstream channel, the plurality of stations transmitting upstream information to the controller on at least one shared upstream channel of the communications medium, the bandwidth of the at least one shared upstream channel being divided into upstream time slots, the upstream time slots capable of carrying reservation requests and data, the method comprising:
processing a request for recurring time slots that includes soliciting a first grant of at least one first upstream time slot the at least one shared upstream channel of the communications medium, the at least one shared upstream channel capable of carrying an upstream transmission from a first station, the transmission capable of colliding with an upstream transmission from at least one second station, the time slots for carrying bursts of data having a burst size of finite amount;
scheduling a plurality of unsolicited upstream transmission grants comprising a second grant of at least one second upstream timeslot, the scheduling being based at least upon a first entry in a list of at least one information flow and at least one service parameter, the second grant being scheduled to provide a first information flow with a quality of service indicated by the at least one service parameter, the first information flow being associated with the first entry in the list of at least one information flow;
sending notice of the first grant to the plurality of stations responsive to the request for recurring time slots, the notice of the first grant indicating an allocation of the at least one first upstream time slot to carry a granted burst of data, the granted burst of data having a granted burst size and comprising a finite amount of data; and
sending notice of the second grant to the plurality of stations responsive to the scheduling of the second grant, the notice of the second grant indicating an allocation of the at least one second upstream time slot to carry data that is at least part of the first information flow.
0. 132. A controller in a two-way communications system comprising a controller and a plurality of stations, the two-way communications system capable of carrying information flows and bursts of data of the plurality of stations, the controller transmitting downstream information to the plurality of stations on at least one downstream channel, the plurality of stations transmitting upstream information to the controller on at least one shared upstream channel of the communications medium, the bandwidth of the at least one shared upstream channel being divided into upstream time slots, the upstream time slots capable of carrying reservation requests and data, the controller comprising:
logic configured to process a request for recurring time slots that includes soliciting a first grant of at least one first upstream time slot in the at least one shared upstream channel of the communications medium, the at least one shared upstream channel capable of carrying an upstream transmission from a first station, the transmission capable of colliding with an upstream transmission from at least one second station, the time slots for carrying bursts of data having a burst size of finite amount;
logic configured to schedule a plurality of unsolicited upstream transmission grants comprising a second grant of at least one second upstream timeslot, the scheduling being based at least upon a first entry in a list of at least one information flow and at least one service parameter, the second grant being scheduled to provide a first information flow with a quality of service indicated by the at least one service parameter, the first information flow being associated with the first entry in the list of at least one information flow;
logic configured to send notice of the first grant to the plurality of stations responsive to the request for recurring time slots, the notice of the first grant indicating an allocation of the at least one first upstream time slot to carry a granted burst of data, the granted burst of data having a granted burst size and comprising a finite amount of data; and
logic configured to send notice of the second grant to the plurality of stations responsive to the scheduling of a second grant, the notice of the second grant indicating an allocation of the at least one second upstream time slot to carry data that is at least part of the first information flow.
1. A method employed in a two way communications system comprising a controller and a plurality of user terminals, the two way communications system capable of carrying information flows and bursts of data of the plurality of user terminals, the controller transmitting downstream information to the plurality of user terminals on at least one downstream channel, the plurality of user terminals transmitting upstream information to the controller on at least one shared upstream channel of a shared communications medium, the bandwidth of the at least one shared upstream channel being divided into upstream time slots, the upstream time slots capable of carrying reservation requests and data, at least one media access control mechanism being used to resolve contention for transmission on the at least one shared upstream channel, an upstream information transmission of at least one first user terminal of the plurality of user terminals capable of colliding on the at least one shared upstream channel with an upstream information transmission of at least one second user terminal of the plurality of user terminals, the method comprising the steps of:
processing a reservation request that solicits a first grant of at least one first upstream time slot to carry a requested burst of data, the requested burst of data having a requested burst size of finite amount;
maintaining a list of at least one information flow, the list of at least one information flow being associated with at least one service parameter;
scheduling a second grant of at least one second upstream time slot, the scheduling being based at least upon a first entry in the list of the at least one information flow and the at least one service parameter, the second grant being scheduled to provide a first information flow with a quality of service indicated by the at least one service parameter, the first information flow being associated with the first entry in the list of at least one information flow;
sending notice of the first grant to the plurality of user terminals responsive to the reservation request that solicits the first grant, the notice of the first grant indicating an allocation of the at least one first upstream time slot to carry a granted burst of data, the granted burst of data having a granted burst size and comprising a finite amount of data; and
sending notice of the second grant to the plurality of user terminals responsive to the scheduling of the second grant, the notice of the second grant indicating an allocation of the at least one second upstream time slot to carry data that is at least part of the first information flow.
69. A controller in a two way communications system comprising the controller and a plurality of user terminals, the two way communications system capable of carrying information flows and bursts of data of the plurality of user terminals, the controller transmitting downstream information to the plurality of user terminals on at least one downstream channel, the plurality of user terminals transmitting upstream information to the controller on at least one shared upstream channel of a shared communications medium, the bandwidth of the at least one shared upstream channel being divided into upstream time slots, the upstream time slots capable of carrying reservation requests and data, at least one media access control mechanism being used to resolve contention for transmission on the at least one shared upstream channel, an upstream information transmission of at least one first user terminal of the plurality of user terminals capable of colliding on the at least one shared upstream channel with an upstream information transmission of at least one second user terminal of the plurality of user terminals, the controller comprising:
logic configured to process a reservation request that solicits a first grant of at least one first upstream time slot to carry a requested burst of data, the requested burst of data having a requested burst size of finite amount;
logic configured to maintain a list of at least one information flow, the list of at least one information flow being associated with at least one service parameter;
logic configured to schedule a second grant of at least one second upstream time slot, the scheduling being based at least upon a first entry in the list of the at least one information flow and the at least one service parameter, the second grant being scheduled to provide a first information flow with a quality of service indicated by the at least one service parameter, the first information flow being associated with the first entry in the list of at least one information flow;
logic configured to sending send notice of the first grant to the plurality of user terminals responsive to the reservation request that solicits the first grant, the notice of the first grant indicating an allocation of the at least one first upstream time slot to carry a granted burst of data, the granted burst of data having a granted burst size and comprising a finite amount of data; and
logic configured to sending send notice of the second grant to the plurality of user terminals responsive to the scheduling of the second grant, the notice of the second grant indicating an allocation of the at least one second upstream time slot to carry data that is at least part of the first information flow.
2. The method of
3. The method of
4. The method of
monitoring at least one message that carries information flow signaling; and
modifying the list of at least one information flow responsive to the at least one message that carries information flow signaling.
5. The method of
6. The method of
7. The method of
creating the first entry in the list of at least one information flow responsive to establishment of the first information flow, the establishment signaled by the at least one message that carries information flow signaling; and
deleting the first entry in the list of at least one information flow responsive to termination of the first information flow, the termination signaled by the at least one message that carries information flow signaling.
8. The method of
9. The method of
10. The method of
11. The method of
13. The method of
14. The method of
15. The method of
16. The method of
17. The method of
18. The method of
20. The method of
21. The method of
23. The method of
24. The method of
25. The method of
26. The method of
29. The method of
30. The method of
31. The method of
32. The method of
33. The method of
34. The method of
35. The method of
36. The method of
37. The method of
40. The method of
41. The method of
42. The method of
44. The method of
45. The method of
46. The method of
47. The method of
48. The method of
49. The method of
50. The method of
51. The method of
53. The method of
55. The method of
56. The method of
57. The method of
58. The method of
60. The method of
61. The method of
62. The method of
63. The method of
65. The method of
66. The method of
67. The method of
68. The method of
70. The controller of
71. The controller of
72. The controller of
logic configured to monitor at least one message that carries information flow signaling; and
logic configured to modify the list of at least one information flow responsive to the at least one message that carries information flow signaling.
73. The controller of
74. The controller of
75. The controller of
76. The controller of
77. The controller of
78. The controller of
79. The controller of
80. The controller of
81. The controller of
82. The controller of
83. The controller of
84. The controller of
86. The controller of
87. The controller of
88. The controller of
89. The controller of
90. The controller of
91. The controller of
92. The controller of
95. The method of
96. The method of
97. The method of
monitoring at least one message that carries information flow signaling; and
modifying a status of the first information flow responsive to the at least one message that carries information flow signaling.
98. The method of clam 93, wherein the upstream time slots comprise a first type of upstream time slots and a second type of upstream time slots, the first type of upstream time slots limited to carrying reservation requests, and the second type of upstream time slots capable of carrying data that is not limited to reservation requests.
99. The method of
100. The method of
101. The method of
103. The method of
104. The method of
107. The method of
108. The method of
109. The method of
monitoring at least one message that carries information flow signaling; and
modifying a status of the first information flow responsive to the at least one message that carries information flow signaling.
110. The method of
111. The method of
112. The method of
113. The method of
115. The method of
116. The method of
0. 118. The method of claim 117, further comprising: sending a response to the request for the recurring time slots.
0. 119. The method of claim 117, further comprising: receiving the request for recurring time slots in the upstream channel.
0. 120. The method of claim 117, further comprising: maintaining a collection of information flows, the collection of information flows being associated with at least one service parameter.
0. 121. The method of claim 117, further comprising: sending the plurality of unsolicited upstream transmission grants, the grants meeting the requested quality of service of the first information flow defined by the at least one service parameter.
0. 122. The method of claim 121, further comprising: receiving the bursts of data on the upstream channel responsive to at least one of the plurality of unsolicited grants.
0. 123. The method of claim 117, wherein upon determining that additional information in excess of the burst size is required to be sent: processing a supplemental upstream data request.
0. 124. The method of claim 123, wherein the supplemental upstream data request is transmitted within a previously scheduled data burst.
0. 125. The method of claim 123, further comprising: scheduling at least one supplemental upstream transmission grant responsive to the supplemental upstream data request.
0. 126. The method of claim 125, further including: transmitting the at least one supplemental grant responsive to the supplemental upstream data request.
0. 127. The method of claim 126, further comprising: receiving at least one supplemental burst of data on the upstream channel responsive to the at least one supplemental grant.
0. 128. The method of claim 117, wherein the communications medium is at least part of a cable television networking environment.
0. 129. The method of claim 117, wherein the bursts of data are carried in anyone of ATM cells or packets.
0. 130. The method of claim 117, wherein the bursts of data comprise anyone of digitized voice or digitized video.
0. 131. The method of claim 117, wherein the information flow is from a local area network (LAN).
0. 133. The controller of claim 132, further comprising: logic configured to send a response to the request for the recurring time slots.
0. 134. The controller of claim 132, further comprising: logic configured to receive the request for recurring time slots in the upstream channel.
0. 135. The controller of claim 132, further comprising: logic configured to maintain a collection of information flows, the collection of information flows being associated with at least one service parameter.
0. 136. The controller of claim 132, further comprising: logic configured to send the plurality of unsolicited upstream transmission grants, the grants meeting the requested quality of service of the first information flow defined by the at least one service parameter.
0. 137. The controller of claim 136, further comprising: logic configured to receive the bursts of data on the upstream channel responsive to at least one of the plurality of unsolicited grants.
0. 138. The controller of claim 132, further comprising: logic configured to process a supplemental upstream data request upon determining that additional information in excess of the burst size is required to be sent.
0. 139. The controller of claim 138, wherein the supplemental upstream data request is transmitted within a previously scheduled data burst.
0. 140. The controller of claim 138, further comprising: logic configured to schedule at least one supplemental upstream transmission grant responsive to the supplemental upstream data request.
0. 141. The controller of claim 140, further including: logic configured to transmit the at least one supplemental grant responsive to the supplemental upstream data request.
0. 142. The controller of claim 141, further including: logic configured to receive at least one supplemental burst of data on the upstream channel responsive to the at least one supplemental grant.
0. 143. The controller of claim 132, wherein the communications medium is at least part of a cable television networking environment.
0. 144. The controller of claim 132, wherein the bursts of data are carried in ATM cells or packets.
0. 145. The controller of claim 132, wherein the bursts of data comprise anyone of digitized voice or digitized video.
0. 146. The controller of claim 132, wherein the information flow is from a local area network (LAN).
|
This application is a continuation of U.S. Application No. 08/732,668, filed October 16, 1996, now U.S. Patent No. 5,966,163, which claims the benefit of the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/005,747, filed October 20, 1995.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mechanism to provide constant bit rate upstream data transport in a two way communication system (e.g., a cable TV system) that has a known contention based upstream data transport mechanism. In particular, the invention relates to a mechanism to provide the constant bit rate upstream data transport, such as for a telephone voice channel, in a way that is compatible with known contention based available bit rate upstream data transport mechanisms so that jitter requirements of the constant bit rate transmission are fulfilled while not adversely effecting the latency of the available bit rate upstream data transport.
2. Description of Related Art
The upstream channel of a cable system is expected to carry a variety of services ranging from CBR (Constant Bit Rate) to ABR (Available Bit Rate) as defined by the ATM Forum (Asynchronous Transfer Mode Forum). These two services have unique sets of quality of service requirements such as jitter. For the CBR services, bounded jitter is required but not for the ABR services. ABR performance is measured on the system response time where the access delay plays a key roll CBR and ABR data are also different on the prospects of the traffic patterns. CBR sources produce data in a constant rate fashion while the ABR sources are usually in the burst mode. In the shared upstream channel of the cable television (CATV) environment, the services can not be optimized by a single Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol due to the above differences. The contention based Medium Access Control algorithm has been shown as an appropriate protocol for the local area network (LAN) traffic to provide instant access but it can not provide a guaranteed access environment for CBR sources to achieve bounded jitter.
One family of the contention algorithms, Distributed Queue Random Access Protocol (DQRAP), which uses a separate field (other than the data field) for resolving collisions while the user data transmission is taking place at the same time has been proposed to optimize the system throughput for ABR traffic. DQRAP has shown 85% of utilization with reasonable average access delay. It falls short of providing guaranteed access in order to support CBR services.
What is needed is a priority preempt mechanism to support guaranteed access in a contention based media access protocol in order to optimize these two services in the same system.
Historically, guaranteed access is provided via a TDMA (time division multiple access) arrangement. However, the TDMA approach can only provide services of an integer multiplier of a base rate. For example, these services are possible, 16 Kbps, 32 Kbps, 48 Kbps, etc., if the base rate is 16 kbps. Any request between two layers results in bandwidth waste.
TDMA is based on a cyclic framing structure. Access to the media is usually restricted until the start of the next cycle. It can be a long time if the frame is large or the transmission rate is low.
Another scheme often employed for guaranteed performance is when a station is polled periodically and the station can indicate if there is information to send. Performance of the source data can be guaranteed but at a significant waste of bandwidth because of the need to send the poll to a station and the bandwidth wasted when the station has nothing to send.
A media access control mechanism such as DQRAP uses a separated fields called Control Mini-Slots (CMS) to resolve collided transmissions while actual data transmission occurs at the data slot. Several CMSs associated with a data slot form the basic transmission unit. A station with packets ready for transmission choose one of the CMSs randomly to gain the right to transmit. Those stations that have already obtained the transmission rights are scheduled in a virtual queue called TQ (each station knows the total number of waiting members and its position among them). The requesting stations are informed of the success of the access requests by feedback sent by the Central Controller on the downstream channel with what is called contention grants. DQRAP has shown good performance in terms of Utilization vs. Access Delays. It is difficult and expensive to implement a priority scheme during the contention phase without priority protection. DQRAP can not guarantee bounded jitter which is required in order to support CBR services.
XDQRAP (Extended Distributed Queue Random Access Protocol) is a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol designed to satisfy a wide range of performances required by the services that the IEEE 802 14 network is expected to provide. It is a contention-based protocol that provides LAN type of traffic an instant access environment. With a central feedback mechanism that is a natural result of the tree-and-branch network topology, it seamlessly marries a reservation scheme to offer deterministic access for the Constant Bit Rate (CBR) services. The MAC was presented in the paper. A proposal to Use XDQRAP for the IEEE 802 14 (IEEE 802 14/95-068) incorporated herein by reference. Simulation results of the basic XDQRAP were presented in the paper Simulation of the Performance of XDQRAP under a Range of Conditions (IEEE 802 14/95-049) incorporated herein by reference.
In the XDQRAP model, the channel time is partitioned into a sequence of fixed-sized time slots. Each unit consists of a data field where the actual data transmissions takes place and a control field used for requesting data slots. The request field consists of two areas called Control Mini Slots (CMS) Stations with data to transmit follow a set of rules to put the transmission requests in one of the control mini slots. The contention resolution algorithm is a tree based approach since there are potentially more than one request in the same control mini slot. By taking advantage of the central feedback, XDQRAP keeps the newly arrived packets out of contention to achieve fast-coverage resolution cycle.
The status of the control mini-slots and the data slots are constantly monitored at the headend. Based on the information, the global queuing information is fed back to the network via the common downstream channel. An individual station, therefore, adjusts its local state-machine accordingly. The contention winning stations position themselves in the global transmission sequence. Stations that lose in the contention retry at the next scheduled time.
Voice and some video conferencing data streams require that data arrives at the receiver within a narrow window of time (i.e., minimum jitter). Having contention for data slots is thus not a good mechanism to use for Constant Bit Rate (CBR) data streams. What is needed is a mechanism whereby a station can be guaranteed to send data at fixed intervals without having to use the control mini-slots to request data slots.
It is an object to the present invention to provide a priority preempt mechanism to support guaranteed access in a contention based media access protocol. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for constant bit rate upstream data transport, such as for a telephone voice channel, in a way that is compatible with known contention based available bit rate upstream data transport mechanisms so that jitter requirements of the constant bit rate transmission are fulfilled while not adversely effecting the latency of the available bit rate upstream data transport.
These and other objects are achieved in a method of granting rights for upstream data transmission from user terminals that includes processing contention requests to generate contention grants and maintaining a list of connections, each connection having specified a predetermined bit rate. The method is practiced in a two way cable system that includes a controller and a plurality of the user terminals. The controller sends a downstream data stream to the user terminals and receives an upstream data stream from the user terminals. The downstream data stream includes a plurality of grant fields, and the upstream data stream includes upstream data slots and upstream control slots. The method further includes scheduling preemptive grants for upstream data slots using selected fields of the plurality of,grant fields so as to provide preemptive grants for upstream data transport at a bit rate specified for each connection, sending to the user terminals a data transmission grant in a grant field of the plurality of grant fields for which a preemptive grant is scheduled, and sending to the user terminals a data transmission grant in a grant field of the plurality of grant fields in which a contention grant is pending and no preemptive grant is scheduled.
The invention will be described in detail in the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the following figures wherein:
The preemptive grant mechanism can be used on top of DQRAP so that CBR sources can use access mechanisms such as DQRAP to obtain guaranteed access. The preemptive grant is issued by the Central Controller without a request from the station and bypasses the contention at the control mini-slot.
The preemptive grant mechanism is briefly described by the following:
The central controller operation is briefly described as follows:
For example, a feedback data field in the downstream channel from the controller to a user terminal will include a station or terminal ID and a transmission right type. The transmission right type may be encoded as:
00:
No Request
01:
Contention Grant
10:
Collision
11:
Preemptive Grant
Since the contention grants and preemptive grant share the control fields on the downstream channel, the Central Controller will try to minimize the impacts of the regular contention operation by choosing the feedback data field based on the following order: no request, then collision, then contention grant.
When a preemptive grant is generated by the scheduler, the Central Controller scans through the incoming control mini-slot field and chooses a feedback data field based on the above criteria. It also overwrites the ID field by the CBR connection ID and the feedback field by ‘11’.
The user terminal (station) operation is briefly described as follows. The basic idea is to treat a preemptive grant as if it were a collision indication.
The station having newly arrived messages.
The stations treat it as TQ>0 cases once they see FB=11.
The stations holding TQ positions.
The station holding the first position will be preempted and not transmit on the current slot. The stations holding the positions other than the first will not have an effect since the TQ value broadcasted by the Central Controller is not changed.
The station in the contention process.
The stations putting their request in the control mini-slot overwritten by the Central Controller treat it as a collision; it is equivalent to FB=‘10’. Those stations using a different mini-slot are not impacted.
The CBR station
Transmit the cell on the current slot. Essentially, the station which requests a CBR service needs to maintain two queues: the TQ and a CBR queue. XDQRAP does an excellent job of handling bursty computer data by providing immediate access for data transmission during light loads and high utilization through fast contention resolution during heavy loads. To summarize XDQRAP protocol:
1. A station randomly chooses one of the Control Mini-Slots (CMS) to put on the connection ID and it indicates the number of cells it wishes to transmit (reservation mode). With modifications to XDQRAP, the number of control mini-slots may be dynamically varied.
Many stations vie for usage for the data slots and it is possible for delays to occur as stations resolve the contention for these data slots. As seen by the receiver of this data, there could be variation of arrival times even if the information was sent on a periodic basis. For data streams that require minimal buffering, trying to accommodate this variation in arrival time is unacceptable. Embodiment of present invention to handle Continuous Bit Rate (CBR) data streams are described as follows.
For available bit rate traffic (ABR traffic), the headend broadcast upstream control slot (e.g., control mini-slot) assignment data to the user terminals. The user terminals store this assignment data and use it to locate where requests may be placed in the upstream data stream.
When a user terminal has ABR data to send to the head-end, the user terminal sends a request in an assigned control slot to request an allocation of upstream data slots to carry the ABR data. Then the head-end acknowledges receipt of the request for allocation.
For constant bit rate (CBR) and variable but rate (VBR) traffic, the user terminals communicate with the head-end to establish a connection. The connection is good until cancelled. It does not have to be renewed with each quantum of data to be transferred. The communication channel may be over the cable network or outside of the cable network (e.g., via telephone line).
The head-end schedules upstream data slots to carry data for all CBR and VBR connections and then schedules upstream data slots to carry data for the pending ABR requests. The head-end then broadcasts grants to the user terminals that give data transmission rights to specifically identified station IDs to carry data upstream in specifically identified upstream data slots based on the above described schedule. In this way CBR and VBR jitter requirements can be fulfilled in systems with ABR contention based mechanisms.
The user terminal responds to a grant by sending the specified data (e.g., defined by station ID) upstream in the specified data slot. Receipt of the upstream data transmission is then acknowledged by the head-end.
The downstream data frame (e.g.,
In the cable environment there needs to be some centralized control (e.g., at the headend) to allow for authorizing stations to use the network, providing security, and statistics gathering for billing. Generically, this function is called network control and there is at least one element responsible for network resources. The entity responsible for the network resources is called the network control element.
Prior to transmitting data, a station must request a connection be setup by the network. As part of the connection setup process, it informs the network about the characteristics of the path. One of the ways to define the characteristics is called Q.2931, an ITU standard incorporated herein by reference. The process of sending and receiving information about the connection is called signaling. In our environment the signaling information is sent to a network control element located at the head-end.
Q.2931 signaling information consists of the bandwidth, delay and jitter requirements for this connection. CBR data streams would request a specific data rate, maximum end-to-end delay and jitter tolerance. ABR traffic would have the CBR parameters plus minimum bandwidth and burst size information. Several network entities may be involved in the connection such as a switch, intermediate controllers and the destination. Each of these entities can accept, modify or reject the various parameters of the signaling information. This ensures that the network resources exist to support the type of connection required for a particular data stream.
The CMS and data slot can be viewed as a single entity and part of an infinitely long time domain multiplex (TDM) frame starting at number 1 and going on indefinitely (see
When a station initiates a CBR connection, the head-end begins to allocate a ‘TDM slot’ periodically at a rate equal to the requested data rate. It can do this because it knows what information rate has been requested and the amount of jitter the connection requires. From the first frame, the head-end is able to calculate the slot number for every data transmission for that connection. Because its centralized control can have other stations transmit data on data slots not previously reserved by CBR connections. This mechanism for providing a station a data slot (TQ) number without the station having to request it via a Control Mini-Slot is called a preemptive grant.
As an example, assume a station wants to request a connection having a bandwidth of 64 Kb/s and minimal jitter. The network control element calculates that the connection requires 167 ATM cells (64 Kb/sec)/(8 bits /byte)/(48 bytes/ATM cell)) to be available in the upstream direction every second. For an upstream QPSK signal of 1 MHz, a 1.544 Mb/s data rate is possible. Our ‘TDM slot’ consists of 82 bytes and this translates into 2,353 ((1.5 Mb/sec)/(8 bits/byte)/(82 bytes/frame)) available frames in a second. The network controller will allocate every 14th (167/2,353) ‘TDM slot’ to the station requesting the 64 Kb/sec CBR connection.
As an example,
The controller received Station B's request and will issue a starting frame of 548 in response to Station B's request. Because the controller knows that Station A's frame will occur in the middle of the 5 frames, the controller will only allow Station B to have 3 ATM cells transmitted Station B can issue an immediate request for another 2 ATM cells and have that resolved before the completion of the CBR Frame and transmit the remaining 2 ATM cells starting at frame 552.
In order to make the CBR connections work and to maintain the quality of service for the stations, the network controller must receive the desired network service level from the originating station. As mentioned before, an existing standard from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) known as Q.2931 may be a useful mechanism to convey the connection characteristics to the network. A subset of this standard (Q.931, 0.932, Q.933) is used in ISDN, Frame Relay and ATM signaling.
Multiple connections from a modem can be multiplexed over the same physical link. Each connection can have a different class of service such as CBR, VBR, ABR and UBR. The network also guarantees the amount of maximum delay the packet will incur through the network and the amount of variation in arrival time (packet arrival jitter).
The quality of the connection between the source and destination modems is determined by the source modem specifying the characteristics of the connection. The quality of service parameters are negotiated during the connection setup phase. If the modem does not specify a value for a particular parameter, then the default value is assumed. Default values may be network specific or may be established at connection set-up time.
There are three phases of a connection: connection establishment, data transfer, and termination. Connection established is the process of establishing a path through the network that has the characteristics specified. After establishing the connection, the information flows may commence data transfer. After the information has been transferred, the source is required to notify the network to terminate the connection. This termination notification is in the form of a disconnect sequence, and it is required to allow the network to reclaim network resources dedicated to this connection.
Messages are packets that flow between the source modem to the network in order to perform a desired function. The network may return the information requested or request information from devices outside the network.
As discussed above, there is a need to establish parameters that the headend controller will use when the scheduling algorithm. As a useful mechanism for relaying the connection requirements, ITU standard Q.2931 may be employed.
Each packet in a message contains one or more fields called ‘Information Elements’. Information elements contain the logical parameters associated with that element. For example, the information element for the ‘End-to-End Transit Delay’ contains the initiator's requested transit delay and the maximum transit delay that would be accepted. The main Information Elements are listed in Table 1. Some of the connection control messages are described in Table 2.
TABLE 1
INFORMATION ELEMENT IDENTIFIER CODING
IDENTIFIER # FOR IE
INFORMATION ELEMENT
8765
4321
NAME
0000
0100
Bearer Capability
0100
0010
End-to-End Transit Delay
0000
1000
Cause
0001
1001
Network Connection Identifier
0100
1000
Bandwidth Control Parameters
0110
1100
Source Address
0110
1101
Source Sub-address
0111
0000
Destination Address
0111
0001
Destination Sub-address
0111
1110
User-User
1010
0000
More Data
TABLE 2
CONNECTION CONTROL MESSAGES
Setup - This message is sent by the initiating modem to the network and
by the network to the destination to initiate connection establishment.
Connection Proceeding - This message is sent by the destination to the
network or by network to the source. It indicates that the requested
connection established has been initiated and no more connection
establishment information will be accepted.
Connect - This message is sent by the destination to the network and by
the network to the source to indicate connection acceptance by the
destitnation.
Alerting - This message is sent by the destination to the network and by
the network to the source to indicate that destination alerting has been
initiation.
Release - This message is sent by the initiator or the network to indicate
that the equipment sending the message has disconnected the connection
and intends to release the network connection identifier (if any) and the
connection reference. The receiving equipment should release the network
connection identifier and prepare to release the connection reference
after sending RELEASE COMPLETE.
Release Complete - This message is sent by the initiator or the network to
indicated that the equipment sending the message has released the
connection and, if appropriate, the channel. The channel, if released, is
available for reuse. The receiving equipment shall release the connection
Disconnect - This message may be sent by either to request the network to
clear the connection or it may be sent by the network to indicate that the
connection is cleared.
Status Enquiry - This message may be sent by the user or the network at
any time to solicit a STATUS message from the peer layer 3 entity.
Sending a STATUS message in response to a STATUS ENQUIRY
message is mandatory. This message is sent by the initiator or the network
at any time during a connection to report certain error conditions as listed
in section 5.8 of Recommendation Q.931
User Information - This message is sent by the user to the network to
transfer information to the remote user. This message is also sent by the
network to the user to deliver information from the other user. This
message is used if the user-to-user transfer is part of an allowed
information transfer. This message is sent by the user or the network at
any time to solicit a STATUS message from the peer layer 3 entity.
Sending a STATUS message in response to a STATUS ENQUIRY
message is mandatory.
Generically, these messages are called connection control messages. A typical connection control packet would include a Protocol Discriminator, a Connection Reference, a Message Type and one or more Information Elements.
A particular message may contain more information than a particular network needs or can understand. All equipment should be able to ignore any extra information present in a message that is not required for the proper operation of that equipment. For example, the source may ignore the source address during the CONNECT message since it should be its own address.
The purpose of the Protocol Discriminator is to distinguish messages for network connection control from other messages within Q.931. It also distinguishes messages of Q.931 from OSI network layer protocol units that are coded to other ITU Recommendations and other standards.
The value for this field should be x‘08’ (hexadecimal 08) which is the value for the Q.931/(I 451) user-network call control messages specified in section 4.2 of Recommendation Q.931.
The purpose of the Connection Reference is to identify the connection to which the particular message applies. The Connection Reference does not have end-end significance across the network. Sec section 4.3 of Recommendation Q.931.
Connection Reference values are assigned by the originating side of the interface for a connection. These values are unique to the originating side only within a particular network port link. The Connection Reference value is assigned at the beginning of a connection and remains fixed for the lifetime of a connection. After a connection ends, the associated Connection Reference value may be reassigned to a later connection. Two identical Connection Reference values on the same connection may be used when each value pertains to a connection originated at opposite ends of the link.
Information Element identifiers (IE) are logical groupings of parameters needed to convey information. The Information Element has its own unique identifier, length field and parameters. Each Information Element remains the same regardless of the Message Type. Usually a particular information element may be present only once in a given message.
Having described preferred embodiments of a novel constant bit rate mechanism in a contention based medium access control (which are intended to be illustrative and not limiting), it is noted that modifications and variations can be made by persons skilled in the art in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that changes may be made in the particular embodiments of the invention disclosed which are within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Having thus described the invention with the details and particularity required by the patent laws, what is claimed and desired protected by letters patent is set forth in the appended claims
Koperda, Francis R., Lin, Bouchung
Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
4186380, | Oct 21 1977 | Allen-Bradley Company | Multi-terminal computer system with dual communication channels |
4207431, | Sep 23 1977 | Broadband Technologies, Inc. | Apparatus and method for monitoring a communications system |
4361851, | Jan 04 1980 | System for remote monitoring and data transmission over non-dedicated telephone lines | |
4429383, | Jan 16 1980 | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | Method for seizing time slots of a time-division multiplex system with dynamic multiplexers |
4475123, | Apr 02 1981 | Texscan Corporation | Addressable subscriber cable television system |
4491983, | May 14 1981 | TIMES FIBER COMMUNICATIONS INC | Information distribution system |
4528589, | Feb 14 1977 | IPPV ENTERPRISES, LLC | Method and system for subscription television billing and access |
4536791, | Mar 31 1980 | General Instrument Corporation | Addressable cable television control system with video format data transmission |
4550398, | Jun 22 1982 | CSELT- CENTRO STUDI E LABORATORI TELECOMUNICAZIONI S P A , VIA GUGLIELMO REISS ROMOLI 274, TORINO, ITALY A CORP OF ITALY | Modular self-routing PCM switching network for distributed-control telephone exchange |
4577224, | Jul 19 1982 | Secure cable television access system with tiering control | |
4601028, | Jun 18 1984 | ALCATEL NETWORK SYSTEM INC | Method of and apparatus for checking datapath failure in a communication muldem |
4672533, | Dec 19 1984 | COMMUNICATIONS LINK CONTROL,INC | Electronic linkage interface control security system and method |
4771391, | Jul 21 1986 | CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC , A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA | Adaptive packet length traffic control in a local area network |
4804248, | Dec 22 1986 | Corning Glass Works | Data rate limiter for optical transmission system |
4823386, | Apr 02 1981 | TEXSCAN CORPORATION, TEXSCAN CORPORATION A DE CORP | Addressable subscriber cable television system |
4858224, | Jan 09 1987 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Diagnostic method of equipment and system using the same |
4912721, | Apr 29 1988 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Cable television spread spectrum data transmission apparatus |
5014125, | May 05 1989 | TVWorks, LLC | Television system for the interactive distribution of selectable video presentations |
5047928, | Oct 24 1986 | Billing system for computer software | |
5050213, | Oct 14 1986 | Electronic Publishing Resources, Inc. | Database usage metering and protection system and method |
5113499, | Apr 28 1989 | SPRINT INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION, A CORP OF DE | Telecommunication access management system for a packet switching network |
5131041, | Nov 30 1989 | Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated; American Telephone and Telegraph Company | Fault tolerant interconnection networks |
5136690, | Aug 07 1989 | THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, AS COLLATERAL AGENT | Dynamic graphical analysis of network data |
5142690, | Mar 20 1990 | TECH 5 SAS | Cable television radio frequency data processor |
5155590, | Mar 20 1990 | Cisco Technology, Inc | System for data channel level control |
5159592, | Oct 29 1990 | International Business Machines Corporation; INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, A CORP OF NEW YORK | Network address management for a wired network supporting wireless communication to a plurality of mobile users |
5166930, | Dec 17 1990 | AT&T Bell Laboratories | Data channel scheduling discipline arrangement and method |
5166931, | Sep 04 1990 | AT&T Bell Laboratories | Communications network dynamic addressing arrangement |
5181107, | Oct 19 1989 | INTERACTIVE TELEVISION SYSTEMS, INC | Telephone access information service distribution system |
5185860, | May 03 1990 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Automatic discovery of network elements |
5195092, | Aug 04 1987 | TVWorks, LLC | Interactive multimedia presentation & communication system |
5197094, | Jun 15 1990 | Arachnid, Inc. | System for remotely crediting and billing usage of electronic entertainment machines |
5208665, | Aug 20 1987 | TVWorks, LLC | Presentation player for an interactive digital communication system |
5214390, | Mar 16 1992 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Method and apparatus for partial response demodulation |
5226120, | May 21 1990 | Nortel Networks Limited | Apparatus and method of monitoring the status of a local area network |
5235619, | Mar 20 1990 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Cable television radio frequency subscriber data transmission apparatus and RF return method |
5239540, | Nov 27 1990 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Method and apparatus for transmitting, receiving and communicating digital data signals with corresponding program data signals which describe the digital data signals |
5251324, | Mar 20 1990 | TECH 5 SAS | Method and apparatus for generating and collecting viewing statistics for remote terminals in a cable television system |
5261044, | Sep 17 1990 | CONCORD COMMUNICATIONS, INC ; Computer Associates Think, Inc | Network management system using multifunction icons for information display |
5271041, | Mar 16 1992 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Method and apparatus for QPR carrier recovery |
5276789, | May 14 1990 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Graphic display of network topology |
5287351, | Nov 27 1990 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Method and apparatus for minimizing error propagation in correlative digital and communication system |
5295244, | Sep 17 1990 | CONCORD COMMUNICATIONS, INC ; Computer Associates Think, Inc | Network management system using interconnected hierarchies to represent different network dimensions in multiple display views |
5327554, | Nov 29 1990 | GARNET DIGITAL, LLC | Interactive terminal for the access of remote database information |
5333183, | Mar 13 1992 | VERAMARK TECHNOLOGIES, INC | Universal MDR data record collection and reporting system |
5347304, | Sep 10 1991 | Hybrid Patents Incorporated | Remote link adapter for use in TV broadcast data transmission system |
5361259, | Feb 19 1993 | IPR 3 PTY LTD | Wide area network (WAN)-arrangement |
5384777, | Apr 19 1993 | Wistron Corporation | Adaptive medium access control scheme for wireless LAN |
5404505, | Nov 01 1991 | II-VI DELAWARE, INC | System for scheduling transmission of indexed and requested database tiers on demand at varying repetition rates |
5423003, | Mar 03 1994 | Geonet Limited L.P. | System for managing network computer applications |
5423006, | Aug 31 1990 | International Business Machines Corporation | Notification and verification of state changes in a data processing input/output system |
5436909, | Sep 17 1990 | CONCORD COMMUNICATIONS, INC ; Computer Associates Think, Inc | Network management system using status suppression to isolate network faults |
5471399, | Aug 28 1991 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Network management system and network status display method |
5473599, | Apr 22 1994 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Standby router protocol |
5481542, | Nov 10 1993 | NDS Limited | Interactive information services control system |
5483631, | May 01 1990 | Hitachi, Ltd.; Hitachi Information & Control Systems, Inc. | Communication network management system for displaying operation states of network elements on a remote display unit |
5504921, | Sep 17 1990 | CONCORD COMMUNICATIONS, INC ; Computer Associates Think, Inc | Network management system using model-based intelligence |
5515361, | Feb 24 1995 | CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC , A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA | Link monitoring and management in optical star networks |
5515418, | Apr 27 1992 | NEC Corporation | Automatic circuit back-up system |
5517488, | Jun 23 1992 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Method of load distribution for message processing in host system in local area network |
5517618, | Feb 10 1992 | Panasonic Corporation | Mobile migration communications control device |
5530695, | Dec 15 1993 | NEC Corporation | UPC-based traffic control framework for ATM networks |
5533108, | Mar 18 1994 | American Telephone and Telegraph Company | Method and system for routing phone calls based on voice and data transport capability |
5534913, | Mar 31 1994 | THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, AS COLLATERAL AGENT | Apparatus and method for integrating downstream data transfer over a cable television channel with upstream data carrier by other media |
5535403, | Apr 12 1993 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for displaying clusters on a computer network |
5553095, | Apr 28 1993 | ALLEN-BRADLEY COMPANY, INC | Method and apparatus for exchanging different classes of data during different time intervals |
5553287, | Nov 28 1989 | International Business Machines Corporation | Methods and apparatus for dynamically using floating master interlock |
5555244, | May 19 1994 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Scalable multimedia network |
5570355, | Nov 17 1994 | THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, AS COLLATERAL AGENT | Method and apparatus enabling synchronous transfer mode and packet mode access for multiple services on a broadband communication network |
5572640, | Dec 01 1994 | HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L P | Batch transfer system and method for high performance graphic display of network topology |
5586121, | Apr 21 1995 | Hybrid Patents Incorporated | Asymmetric hybrid access system and method |
5594798, | Dec 09 1991 | THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, AS COLLATERAL AGENT | Secure telecommunications |
5604528, | Jun 10 1992 | MOONBEAM L L C | Method and apparatus for providing periodic subscription television services |
5608446, | Mar 31 1994 | THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, AS COLLATERAL AGENT | Apparatus and method for combining high bandwidth and low bandwidth data transfer |
5610910, | Aug 17 1995 | RPX CLEARINGHOUSE LLC | Access to telecommunications networks in multi-service environment |
5612959, | Jul 08 1992 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Multicast communications method |
5638374, | Mar 15 1995 | U S BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION | Enhanced transaction reservation |
5644706, | Jun 20 1994 | Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC | Failure detection and reporting for a computer mail gateway |
5650994, | May 16 1995 | Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc | Operation support system for service creation and network provisioning for video dial tone networks |
5654746, | Dec 01 1994 | TECH 5 SAS | Secure authorization and control method and apparatus for a game delivery service |
5675732, | May 08 1995 | Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc | Dynamic channel assignment for TCP/IP data transmitted via cable television channels by managing the channels as a single sub network |
5701465, | Jun 29 1993 | GOOGLE LLC | Method and apparatus for reserving system resources to assure quality of service |
5703795, | Jun 22 1992 | INTELLECTUAL VENTURES AUDIO INNOVATIONS LLC | Apparatus and methods for accessing information relating to radio and television programs |
5706277, | May 28 1993 | NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS GMBH & CO KG | Method for changing-over to standby for a transmission device for the bidirectional transmission of digital signals and arrangement for carrying out the method |
5708655, | Jun 14 1996 | IDTP HOLDINGS, INC | Method and apparatus for addressing a wireless communication station with a dynamically-assigned address |
5708961, | May 01 1995 | Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc | Wireless on-premises video distribution using digital multiplexing |
5710884, | Mar 29 1995 | Intel Corporation | System for automatically updating personal profile server with updates to additional user information gathered from monitoring user's electronic consuming habits generated on computer during use |
5712897, | Dec 27 1995 | Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc | Fault detection in broadband cable systems |
5720025, | Jan 18 1996 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP | Frequently-redundant array of independent disks |
5721780, | May 31 1995 | THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, AS COLLATERAL AGENT | User-transparent security method and apparatus for authenticating user terminal access to a network |
5724492, | Jun 08 1995 | Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC | Systems and method for displaying control objects including a plurality of panels |
5729682, | Jun 07 1995 | International Business Machines Corporation | System for prompting parameters required by a network application and using data structure to establish connections between local computer, application and resources required by application |
5737311, | Dec 11 1995 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP | Failure detection method in a communication channel with several routes |
5737316, | May 02 1995 | HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L P | Method and device for determining link status in a computer network |
5751706, | Jun 05 1996 | CIGNAL GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS, INC | System and method for establishing a call telecommunications path |
5751707, | Nov 30 1995 | Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc | AIN interaction through wireless digital video network |
5751971, | Jul 12 1995 | ENTERASYS NETWORKS, INC | Internet protocol (IP) work group routing |
5761602, | Sep 13 1995 | QUARTERHILL INC ; WI-LAN INC | Hybrid multichannel data transmission system utilizing a broadcast medium |
5768280, | Jan 12 1995 | Two-way broadband CATV communication network protocol and monitoring technology | |
5790548, | Apr 18 1996 | Intellectual Ventures II LLC | Universal access multimedia data network |
5790806, | Apr 03 1996 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Cable data network architecture |
5793753, | Sep 17 1996 | TELECOM HOLDING PARENT LLC | Telecommunications network management observation and response system |
5796718, | Sep 30 1996 | Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc | Method of and system for intelligent access line protect switching |
5799002, | Jul 02 1996 | Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC | Adaptive bandwidth throttling for network services |
5799016, | Jan 11 1996 | Qwest Communications International Inc | Network addressing scheme encoding communication channel information |
5805591, | Feb 28 1996 | Ericsson Inc | Subscriber network interface |
5805596, | Dec 21 1995 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP | Method for in-band communication of management information in a backplane architecture of a stackable ethernet repeater |
5808671, | Nov 24 1994 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Apparatus and method for remote monitoring of video signals |
5808886, | Mar 17 1994 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Reconfiguring control system in a parallel processing system by replacing an error-detected processing unit |
5812819, | Jun 05 1995 | Dialogic Corporation | Remote access apparatus and method which allow dynamic internet protocol (IP) address management |
5818845, | Apr 21 1995 | Hybrid Patents Incorporated | Hybrid access system having channel allocation and prioritized polling schemes |
5822319, | May 18 1995 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Router device and datagram transfer method for data communication network system |
5828655, | Apr 21 1995 | Hybrid Patents Incorporated | Hybrid access system with quality-based channel switching |
5828666, | Aug 17 1995 | RPX CLEARINGHOUSE LLC | Access to telecommunications networks in multi-service environment |
5835696, | Nov 22 1995 | THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, AS COLLATERAL AGENT | Data router backup feature |
5835725, | Oct 21 1996 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Dynamic address assignment and resolution technique |
5841468, | Apr 26 1996 | ARRIS ENTERPRISES LLC | System and method for routing data messages through a cable transmission system |
5845091, | Feb 15 1996 | AVAYA Holdings Limited | Forwarding of internetwork packets to a destination network via a selected one of a plurality of paths |
5850400, | Apr 27 1995 | NEXT LEVEL COMMUNICATIONS INC | System, method, and apparatus for bidirectional transport of digital data between a digital network and a plurality of devices |
5859852, | Apr 21 1995 | Hybrid Patents Incorporated | Hybrid access system with automated client-side configuration |
5881234, | Apr 26 1996 | Method and system to provide internet access to users via non-home service providers | |
5881243, | May 07 1997 | System for maintaining multiple loop free paths between source node and destination node in computer network | |
5883901, | Sep 22 1995 | HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L P | Communications system including synchronization information for timing upstream transmission of data and ability to vary slot duration |
5884024, | Dec 09 1996 | Oracle America, Inc | Secure DHCP server |
5884284, | Mar 09 1995 | COMCAST MO GROUP, INC | Telecommunication user account management system and method |
5892812, | Feb 16 1993 | Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc | Common channeling signaling network maintenance and testing |
5894479, | Dec 10 1996 | Intel Corporation | Providing address resolution information for self registration of clients on power-up or dial-in |
5898780, | May 21 1996 | CHANNEL IP B V | Method and apparatus for authorizing remote internet access |
5903572, | Apr 22 1996 | Adtran, Inc. | ISDN terminal adapter for use with external modem and employing software-based serial communication framing for ISDN `D` channel signaling |
5905714, | Feb 28 1994 | Nokia Technologies Oy | Method for rerouting a packet-mode data connection |
5905736, | Apr 22 1996 | AT&T Corp | Method for the billing of transactions over the internet |
5956391, | Feb 09 1996 | Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson | Billing in the internet |
5959972, | May 27 1997 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP | Method of port/link redundancy in an ATM switch |
5999970, | Apr 10 1996 | COX COMMUNICATIONS, INC | Access system and method for providing interactive access to an information source through a television distribution system |
6018767, | Feb 24 1998 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP | Method and system for managing subscription services with a cable modem |
6028860, | Oct 23 1996 | ARRIS ENTERPRISES LLC | Prioritized virtual connection transmissions in a packet to ATM cell cable network |
6032266, | Apr 05 1996 | Hitachi, LTD | Network system having function of changing route upon failure |
6049826, | Feb 04 1998 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP | Method and system for cable modem initialization using dynamic servers |
6052819, | Jan 17 1997 | Cisco Technology, Inc | System and method for detecting correcting and discarding corrupted data packets in a cable data delivery system |
6055224, | Dec 30 1996 | HANGER SOLUTIONS, LLC | Method and system for handling telecommunications data traffic |
6058421, | Feb 04 1998 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP | Method and system for addressing network host interfaces from a cable modem using DHCP |
6065049, | Feb 04 1998 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP | Method and system for resolving addresses for network host interfaces from a cable modem |
6070246, | Feb 04 1998 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP | Method and system for secure cable modem initialization |
6073178, | Dec 09 1996 | Oracle America, Inc | Method and apparatus for assignment of IP addresses |
6178455, | Jan 17 1997 | Scientific-Atlanta, LLC | Router which dynamically requests a set of logical network addresses and assigns addresses in the set to hosts connected to the router |
6208656, | Mar 23 1993 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Methods for dynamically assigning link addresses and logical network addresses |
6230203, | Oct 20 1995 | Scientific-Atlanta, LLC | System and method for providing statistics for flexible billing in a cable environment |
6249523, | Jan 17 1997 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Router for which a logical network address which is not unique to the gateway address in default routing table entries |
6272150, | Jan 17 1997 | Scientific-Atlanta, LLC | Cable modem map display for network management of a cable data delivery system |
6282208, | Jan 17 1997 | Cisco Technology, Inc | Data traffic control in a data modem system |
6286058, | Jan 17 1997 | Scientific-Atlanta, LLC | Apparatus and methods for automatically rerouting packets in the event of a link failure |
6295298, | Jan 17 1997 | Scientific-Atlanta, LLC | Method of dynamically assigning a logical network address and a link address |
6418148, | Oct 05 1995 | LGS Innovations LLC | Burst-level resource allocation in cellular systems |
6670577, | Sep 28 2001 | General Electric Company | Laser shock peening method and apparatus |
6813277, | Jun 30 1994 | RPX Corporation | Method and apparatus enabling multiple access on a broadband communication network |
Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Oct 14 2004 | Scientific-Atlanta, LLC | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
Dec 05 2008 | Scientific-Atlanta, Inc | Scientific-Atlanta, LLC | CHANGE OF NAME SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 023012 | /0703 | |
Nov 18 2014 | Scientific-Atlanta, LLC | Cisco Technology, Inc | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 034300 | /0001 |
Date | Maintenance Fee Events |
Apr 15 2014 | M1553: Payment of Maintenance Fee, 12th Year, Large Entity. |
Date | Maintenance Schedule |
May 07 2016 | 4 years fee payment window open |
Nov 07 2016 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
May 07 2017 | patent expiry (for year 4) |
May 07 2019 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 4) |
May 07 2020 | 8 years fee payment window open |
Nov 07 2020 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
May 07 2021 | patent expiry (for year 8) |
May 07 2023 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 8) |
May 07 2024 | 12 years fee payment window open |
Nov 07 2024 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
May 07 2025 | patent expiry (for year 12) |
May 07 2027 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 12) |