System and method for controlling network demand via congestion pricing
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising, receiving load information corresponding to network load, at a source of network packets, wherein the network load information is determined by network traffic, and controlling a rate of a flow of packets at the source based on the load information and a weight value associated with the flow.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for avoiding network congestion by measuring network load to adjust a rate at each source. The load (e.g., as a price value) is provided to network traffic sources, which adjust their flows based on a per-flow weight (willingness to pay). The load may be determined in-band by routers or out-of-band by an observer node. A load value (e.g., as a price) is increased or decreased based on the actual load or an estimate based on the actual load. The sources obtain the load value and control the output rates per flow based on each flow'"'"'s associated weight (willingness to pay), e.g., as set by an administrator. Further, two classes of applications are enabled by allowing certain applications to ignore price.
-
Citations
53 Claims
- 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising, receiving load information corresponding to network load, at a source of network packets, wherein the network load information is determined by network traffic, and controlling a rate of a flow of packets at the source based on the load information and a weight value associated with the flow.
- 8. In a computer network, a system comprising, a source of a flow of data, a destination node that receives at least some of the flow of data from the source, a router between the source and destination that is configured to compute network load and associate load value information corresponding to the network load with the data, a mechanism configured to provide the value corresponding to the network load to the source, and the source including a mechanism that controls a rate of the flow of further data based on the value corresponding to the network load and a weight associated with the flow.
-
11. In a computer system connected to a computer network, a method comprising:
-
obtaining price information corresponding to network load at the computer system, the price information being determined by actual network traffic relative to network capacity; and
controlling a rate of transmitting data on the network based on the price information and a value representative of a willingness to pay. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. The method of 22 wherein the price information being determined is based on a fraction of the network capacity being used by at least one application whose rate at least in part is not controlled according to price information.
-
24. The method of 23 wherein a rate adjustment is smoothed based on the fraction of the network capacity being used by at least one application whose rate at least in part is not controlled according to price information.
-
25. In a computer network, a system, comprising,
an observer mechanism that determines network demand; -
a pricing mechanism configured to determine a price based on the network demand and network capacity data, the pricing mechanism further configured to provide price information corresponding to the price to at least one device on the network; and
a rate control mechanism configured to receive the price information and to control at least one transmit rate based on the received price information. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42, 43, 44)
-
-
40. The method of 39 wherein the price information being determined is based on a fraction of the network capacity being used by at least one application whose rate at least in part is not controlled according to price information.
-
41. The method of 40 wherein a rate adjustment is smoothed based on the fraction of the network capacity being used by at least one application whose rate at least in part is not controlled according to price information.
-
45. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
-
receiving a plurality of packets transmitted on a network during a time interval;
determining a network demand value based on an accumulated size of the packets received during the time interval and a network capacity value;
determining a price value based on the network demand value relative to a threshold;
providing the price value to a computing device on the network; and
at the computing device, controlling a rate of transmitting packets on the network based on the price. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
-
- 52. A computer-implemented method, comprising, receiving load information corresponding to network load at a destination of network packets, wherein the network load information is determined by network traffic, and controlling a rate of a flow of packets to the destination based on the load information and a weight value associated with the flow.
Specification