Method for providing dynamic adjustment of frame encoding parameters in a frame-based communications network

• US 20020041570A1
• Filed: 04/04/2001
• Published: 04/11/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Trachewsky, Jason Alexander, Ptasinski, Henry S., Mallory, Tracy D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,388,853 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0003 by switching between different modulation schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0005 applied to payload information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0006 by adapting the transmission format
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0009 by adapting the channel coding H04L1/1812 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0025 Transmission of mode-switching indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0061 Error detection codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0072 Error control for data other than payload data, e.g. control data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/18 Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1809 Selective-repeat protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1848 Time-out mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1877 for semi-reliable protocols, e.g. for less sensitive applications like streaming video buffer level management for video bitstream control arrangements H04N21/44004
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1883 using multiple timers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1887 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/20 using signal quality detector
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40032 Details regarding a bus interface enhancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4013 Management of data rate on the bus systems modifying transmission characteristics according to link quality H04L1/0001
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40136 Nodes adapting their rate to the physical link properties LAN switches H04L49/351
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40156 by using dedicated slots associated with a priority level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40163 by assigning priority to messages according to a message field
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/403 : with centralised control, e.g. polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4035 : in which slots of a TDMA packet structure are assigned based on a contention resolution carried out at a master unit TDM/TDMA multiplex systems per se H04J3/1694; hybrid switching systems H04L12/64
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/407 : with decentralised control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/413 : with random access, e.g. carrier-sense multiple-access with collision detection [CSMA-CD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/417 : with deterministic access, e.g. token passing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0093 : Point-to-multipoint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/125 : Arrangements for preventing errors in the return channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/00 : Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/06 : Simultaneous speech and data transmission, e.g. telegraphic transmission over the same conductors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 : in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A method for providing dynamic adjustment of frame encoding parameters to improve transmission performance for a transmitting frame being transmitted from a transmitting station to a receiving station over a transmission medium on a frame-based communications network, the transmitting frame having a header segment and a payload segment, the header segment being transmitted using a fixed set of encoding parameters, the payload segment being transmitted using a variable set of payload encoding parameters. The transmitting station sends the transmitting frame using one set of the variable set of payload encoding parameters at a time. The receiving station: (1) receives and decodes the header segment of each transmitting frame, (2) performs a decode process on the payload segment of each transmitting frame, and either decodes the payload segment without errors wherein the frame is considered successfully received, or detects an error occurrence in the decode process, (3) measures and tracks the performance of the frame decode process, (4) determines network performance characteristics for establishing desired performance based upon measuring and tracking the performance of the frame decode process, and (5) indicates to the transmitting station changes to the payload encoding parameters based upon determining network performance improvement characteristics. The transmitting station changes the one set of the variable set of payload encoding parameters corresponding to the changes to the payload encoding parameters indicated to the transmitting station for encoding next future transmitting frames.

Claims

1. A method for providing dynamic adjustment of frame encoding parameters to improve transmission performance for a transmitting frame being transmitted from a transmitting station to a receiving station over a transmission medium on a frame-based communications network, the transmitting frame having a header segment and a payload segment, the header segment being transmitted using a fixed set of encoding parameters, the payload segment being transmitted using a variable set of payload encoding parameters, comprising:

the transmitting station sending the transmitting frame using one set of the variable set of payload encoding parameters at a time;

the receiving station;

receiving and decoding the header segment of each transmitting frame,

performing a decode process on the payload segment of each transmitting frame, and either decoding the payload segment without errors wherein the frame is considered successfully received, or detecting an error occurrence in the decode process,

measuring and tracking the performance of the frame decode process,

determining network performance characteristics for establishing desired performance based upon measuring and tracking the performance of the frame decode process, and

indicating to the transmitting station changes to the payload encoding parameters based upon determining network performance improvement characteristics; and

the transmitting station changing the one set of the variable set of payload encoding parameters corresponding to the changes to the payload encoding parameters indicated to the transmitting station for encoding next future transmitting frames.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicating includes transmitting rate request control frames from the receiving station back to the transmitting station, said rate request control frames specifying desired payload encoding parameters.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the indicating further includes controlling the number of rate request control frames transmitted.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, for a network that supports multiple data rates, the encoding parameters specify a rate at which the payload segment is transmitted.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the fixed set of encoding parameters is indicative of a base rate by which all stations can receive and decode the transmitting frame with a least likelihood of errors.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one set of the variable set of payload encoding parameters is selected from a group of multiple sets of encoding parameters.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein improved transmission performance is provided by determining optimal network performance characteristics.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein optimal network performance characteristics include decreased error amount or increased speed of transmission.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the payload encoding parameters control a number of bits transmitted per symbol.

10. The method of claim 4, wherein the payload encoding parameters control a number of symbols transmitted per second.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving station indicates new payload encoding parameters by transmitting the rate request control frame back to the transmitting station with the new parameter encoding parameters being indicated in a payload segment of the rate request control frame, the payload segment of the rate request control frame being transmitted using the fixed set of encoding parameters.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the fixed set of encoding parameters is indicative of a base rate by which all stations can receive and decode the transmitting frame with a least likelihood of errors.

13. The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving station limits the number of rate request control frames sent during a given time interval.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving station sends the rate request control frame in response to reception of a transmitting frame from the transmitting station encoded with payload encoding parameters that do not match preferred payload encoding parameters selected by the receiving station.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving station sends a rate request control frame in response to reception of some fixed number of frames from the transmitting station encoded with payload encoding parameters that do not match preferred payload encoding parameters selected by the receiving station.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving station sends a rate request control frame in response to receiving some variable number of frames from the transmitting station encoded with payload encoding parameters that do not match preferred payload encoding parameters selected by the receiving station, the variable number of such frames between successive transmissions of rate request control frames being a function of a number of non-matching frames received.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the function of a number of non-matching frames received is a binary exponential backoff with an upper limit on a range of the binary exponential backoff.

18. The method of claim 6, where the payload parameters indicated to the transmitting station may include parameters that may not be useable by the transmitting station.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the payload encoding parameters indicated to the transmitting station include an indication of preference such that the transmitting station should use a most preferred parameter set of which it is capable.

20. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving station sends a payload selection frame periodically even if no transmitting frames were received that had been transmitted using undesired payload encoding parameters.

21. A method for providing dynamic adjustment of frame encoding parameters to improve transmission performance for a transmitting frame being transmitted from a transmitting station to a receiving station over a transmission medium on a frame-based communications network, the frame-based communication network including a plurality of stations, each station having a unique address, the unique address being used as a source address for transmitting frames being transmitted by the station, and as a destination address for frames transmitted by other stations to be received solely by the station, the transmitting frame including a header segment and a payload segment, the header segment containing a source address and a destination address, the header segment further being transmitted using a fixed set of encoding parameters, the payload segment being transmitted using a variable set of payload encoding parameters, comprising:

a transmitting station sending the transmitting frame, the transmitting frame containing a transmitting station address as the source address and a desired destination address, the transmitting station using one set of variable set of payload encodings at a time for the desired destination address,

a receiving station, using the destination address in the transmitting frame to receive frames;

receiving and decoding the header segment of each transmitting frame,

performing a decode process on the payload segment of each transmitting frame, and either decoding the payload segment without errors wherein the frame is considered successfully received, or detecting an error occurrence in the decode process,

measuring and tracking the performance of the frame decode process for transmitting frames sent by the transmitting station,

determining network performance characteristics for establishing desired performance based upon measuring and tracking the performance of the frame decode process, and

indicating to a transmitting station having sent the transmitting frame to the destination address changes to the payload encoding parameters based upon determining network performance improvement characteristics; and

the transmitting station having sent the transmitting frame to the destination address changing the one set of the variable set of payload encoding parameters according to the changes to the payload encoding parameters indicated to the transmitting station by the receiving station for encoding next future transmitting frames.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the indicating includes transmitting rate request control frames from the receiving station back to the transmitting station, said rate request control frames including the destination address used by the receiving station to receive the transmitted frame and specifying desired payload encoding parameters.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the indicating further includes controlling the number of rate request control frames transmitted.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein, for a network that supports multiple data rates, the encoding parameters specify a rate at which the payload segment is transmitted.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the fixed set of encoding parameters is indicative of a base rate by which all stations can receive and decode the transmitting frame with a least likelihood of errors.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein the one set of the variable set of payload encoding parameters is selected from a group of multiple sets of encoding parameters.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein improved transmission performance is provided by determining optimal network performance characteristics.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein optimal network performance characteristics include decreased error amount or increased speed of transmission.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the payload encoding parameters control a number of bits transmitted per symbol.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein the payload encoding parameters control a number of symbols transmitted per second.

31. The method of claim 22, wherein the receiving station indicates new payload encoding parameters by transmitting the rate request control frame back to the transmitting station with the new parameter encoding parameters being indicated in a payload segment of the rate request control frame, the payload segment of the rate request control frame being transmitted using the fixed set of encoding parameters.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the fixed set of encoding parameters is indicative of a base rate by which all stations can receive and decode the transmitting frame with a least likelihood of errors.

33. The method of claim 23, wherein the receiving station limits the number of rate request control frames sent during a given time interval.

34. The method of claim 22, wherein the receiving station sends the rate request control frame in response to reception of a transmitting frame from the transmitting station encoded with payload encoding parameters that do not match preferred payload encoding parameters selected by the receiving station.

35. The method of claim 22, wherein the receiving station sends a rate request control frame in response to reception of some fixed number of frames from the transmitting station encoded with payload encoding parameters that do not match preferred payload encoding parameters selected by the receiving station.

36. The method of claim 22, wherein the receiving station sends a rate request control frame in response to receiving some variable number of frames from the transmitting station encoded with payload encoding parameters that do not match preferred payload encoding parameters selected by the receiving station, the variable number of such frames between successive transmissions of rate request control frames being a function of a number of non-matching frames received.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the function of a number of non-matching frames received is a binary exponential backoff with an upper limit on a range of the binary exponential backoff.

38. The method of claim 26, where the payload parameters indicated to the transmitting station may include parameters that may not be useable by the transmitting station.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the payload encoding parameters indicated to the transmitting station include an indication of preference such that the transmitting station should use a most preferred parameter set of which it is capable.

40. The method of claim 22, wherein the receiving station sends a rate request control frame periodically even if no transmitting frames were received that had been transmitted using undesired payload encoding parameters.

41. The method of claim 21, wherein in addition to unique destination addresses for each station, the frame-based communications network includes multicast destination addresses such that frames with a multicast destination address may be received by a plurality of stations,

each transmitting station:

sending frames to a plurality of receiving stations using a multicast destination address, and further encoding frames sent to the multicast destination address using a set of payload encoding parameters maintained specifically for use with the multicast destination address;

each receiving station;

upon receiving a frame with a multicast destination address performing header reception, payload decoding, error detection, reception quality measurement tracking, and indicating the multicast address used by the transmitter as the destination address of transmitted frames; and

each transmitting station, upon receiving indications of desired payload encoding parameters from a plurality of receiving stations, determining a best set of parameters for sending transmitting frames to all of the receiving stations from which it has received payload encoding parameter indications.

42. The method of claim 23, wherein a receiving station for a multicast destination address sends desired payload encoding parameters for the multicast destination address periodically back to the transmitting station, the period being common to all receivers, and the transmitting station, using a timer with common period as that of the receiving stations, keeps track of which receiving stations have recently sent payload encoding parameter indications for the multicast destination address, and the transmitting station, using recently received payload encoding parameter information, determines the payload encoding parameters to use for the multicast destination address.

43. The method of claim 24, wherein a periodic transmission of rate request control frames is suppressed if the receiving station has itself sent a transmitting frame to the multicast destination address.