Emergency bandwidth allocation with an RSVP-like protocol

• US 20030223431A1
• Filed: 05/31/2002
• Published: 12/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gula Consulting Limited Liability Company (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Chavez, David L., Gentle, Christopher R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,489,687 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/395.42
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2408 for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/245 using preemption
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/724 at intermediate nodes, e.g. resource reservation protocol [RSVP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/765 triggered by the end-points
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/801 Real time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/803 Application aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/805 QOS or priority aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/822 Collecting or measuring resource availability data

Abstract

A source node for configuring and transmitting packets is provided that comprises (a) a reservation agent 204 configured to assign to a first packet a preemption level causing at least some routers in the distributed processing network to process the first packet differently than other packets not having the preemption level, (b) a preemption map 208 comprising a plurality of preemption levels (each preemption level being associated with predetermined level identification criteria), and/or (c) sender-specific information 212 associated with a sender. The reservation agent 204 can configure and transmit packets containing a preemption level and/or sender-specific information.

Claims

1. A method for prioritizing packet flows in a distributed processing network, comprising:

assigning a first preemption level to at least one of a first packet and a first communication path associated with the first packet, wherein the first preemption level causes at least some routers in the distributed processing network to process the first packet differently than other packets not having the first preemption level.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first packet is associated with a communication from a sender and further comprising:

receiving the communication from the sender; and

determining based on the communication that the at least one of the first packet and first communication path is entitled to the first preemption level.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the assigning step comprises:

comparing at least a portion of the communication with a preemption map to determine the corresponding preemption level for the at least one of the first packet and first communication path.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving sender-specific information;

incorporating the retrieved sender-specific information in the first packet; and

transmitting the first packet to an intended recipient.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

configuring and incorporating into the first packet at least one M-class object.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

configuring and incorporating into the first packet at least one I-class object.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first packet is at least part of a path request message.

8. A method for routing packets in a distributed processing network, comprising:

receiving at a router a first packet having a first preemption level; and

identifying at least one of unused and in-use router resources having at least one of no corresponding preemption level or a different corresponding preemption level for use by at least one of the first packet and a first communication path associated with the first packet.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

when the first communication path is unsupportable by the router, sending an error message to a source of the first packet; and

when the first communication path is supportable by the router, performing the identifying step.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the identifying step comprises:

first identifying unused router resources for use by the at least one of the first packet and the first communication path; and

when the unused router resources are inadequate to support the at least one of the first packet and the first communication path, second identifying router resources currently in use for use by the at least one of the first packet and the first communication path.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second identifying step comprises:

comparing the first preemption level with a second preemption level associated with at least one of a second packet and a second communication path currently using at least a second router resource;

when the first preemption level has a higher priority than the second preemption level considering the at least a second router resource for use by the at least one of the first packet and the first communication path; and

when the first preemption level has a lower priority than the second preemption level excluding the at least a second router resource from consideration for use by the at least one of the first packet and the first communication path.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

allocating the identified unused and in-use router resources for use by the at least one of the first packet and the first communication path.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

configuring and forwarding at least a second packet associated with the at least one of the first packet and the first communication path to a next hop interface.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

disrupting the current use of the identified in-use router resources for use by the at least one of the first packet and the first communication path.

15. A method for prioritizing signals associated with an emergency, comprising:

assigning a preemption level to a first signal associated with an emergency;

retrieving sender-specific information from memory;

incorporating the retrieved sender-specific information into the first signal; and

transmitting the first signal to an intended recipient.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the sender-specific information is associated with a sender and comprises a plurality of a person'"'"'s name, a person'"'"'s age, a preexisting medical condition, a drug allergy, a physical location of a structure, a video image, a condition of a device, and a detected parameter.

17. A packet associated with a quality of service protocol, comprising:

a header; and

a body comprising a preemption level.

18. The packet of claim 17, wherein the header comprises at least one of an object length, an object class identifier, and a C-type value.

19. The packet of claim 17, wherein the body comprises at least one M-class object associated with the preemption level.

20. The packet of claim 17, wherein the body comprises sender-specific information.

21. The packet of claim 20, wherein the sender-specific information is associated with at least one I-class object in the body.

22. A source node for configuring and transmitting packets, comprising:

means for assigning a first preemption level to at least one of a first packet and a first communication path associated with the first packet, wherein the first preemption level causes at least some routers in the distributed processing network to process the first packet differently than other packets not having the first preemption level.

23. The source node of claim 22, wherein the first packet is associated with a communication from a sender and further comprising:

an input port for receiving the communication from the sender; and

means for determining based on the communication that the at least one of the first packet and the first communication path is entitled to the first preemption level.

24. The source node of claim 23, wherein the assigning means comprises:

means for comparing at least a portion of the communication with a preemption map to determine the corresponding preemption level for the at least one of the first packet and first communication path.

25. The source node of claim 22, further comprising:

means for retrieving sender-specific information from memory;

means for incorporating the retrieved sender-specific information into the first packet; and

means for transmitting the first packet to an intended recipient.

26. The source node of claim 22, further comprising:

means for configuring and incorporating into the first packet at least one M-class object.

27. The source node of claim 25, further comprising:

means for configuring and incorporating into the first packet at least one I-class object.

28. The source node of claim 22, wherein the first packet is at least part of a path request message.

29. A source node for configuring and transmitting packets, comprising:

a reservation agent configured to assign a first preemption level to at least one of a first packet and a first communication path associated with the first packet, wherein the first preemption level causes at least some routers in the distributed processing network to process the first packet differently than other packets not having the first preemption level.

30. The source node of claim 29, wherein the first packet is associated with a communication from a sender and further comprising:

an input port configured to receive the communication from the sender and wherein the reservation agent is configured to determined based on the communication that the at least one of the first packet and first communication path is entitled to the first preemption level.

31. The source node of claim 30, wherein the reservation agent is configured to compare at least a portion of the communication with a preemption map to determine the preemption level corresponding to the at least one of the first packet and first communication path.

32. The source node of claim 29, wherein the reservation agent is configured to retrieve sender-specific information from memory, incorporate the retrieved sender-specific information into the first packet, and transmit the first packet to an intended recipient.

33. The source node of claim 29, wherein the reservation agent is operable to configure and incorporate into the first packet at least one M-class object.

34. The source node of claim 32, wherein the reservation agent is operable to configure and incorporate into the first packet at least one I-class object.

35. The source node of claim 29, wherein the first packet is at least part of a path request message.

36. The source node of claim 29, further comprising:

a preemption map, the preemption map comprising a plurality of preemption levels, each preemption level being associated with predetermined level identification criteria.

37. The source node of claim 29, further comprising:

sender-specific information, the sender-specific information being associated with a sender and comprising a plurality of a person'"'"'s name, a person'"'"'s age, a preexisting medical condition, a drug allergy, a physical location of a structure, a video image, a state of a device, and a detected parameter.