Method and system for improving bandwidth utilization when supporting mixes of DOCSIS 2.0 and DOCSIS 1.x cable modems
First Claim
1. A method for efficiently utilizing upstream bandwidth in a communication network along an upstream data path comprising:
- receiving upstream data traffic at a node;
assigning the received upstream data traffic to a plurality of physical channels to be transmitted on the upstream data traffic path; and
scheduling the transmission of traffic by the physical channels such that traffic associated with one of the plurality of physical channels is not transmitted simultaneously with traffic associated with another if the bandwidth of either physical channel spectrally overlaps that of the other.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A high level MAP scheduler directs upstream traffic from fiber nodes by controlling low-level MAP schedulers based on spectrum overlap of corresponding physical channels. Of the physical channels controlled by the high level scheduler, one may be configured for high-bandwidth transmission and others for low-bandwidth traffic. Thus, upstream traffic from multiple cable modems not being transmitted in a wide bandwidth spectrum can simultaneously share bandwidth within a physical channel that is capable of high bandwidth traffic, as long the spectrum used for one does not overlap spectrum used by another. This ability also enables instantaneous switching between high and low bandwidth modes without burst interval loss because each physical channel corresponds to a dedicated PHY receiver. Instead of reconfiguring a PHY for a different mode, one PHY can stop accepting upstream traffic while one configured for a different mode simultaneously starts.
33 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for efficiently utilizing upstream bandwidth in a communication network along an upstream data path comprising:
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receiving upstream data traffic at a node;
assigning the received upstream data traffic to a plurality of physical channels to be transmitted on the upstream data traffic path; and
scheduling the transmission of traffic by the physical channels such that traffic associated with one of the plurality of physical channels is not transmitted simultaneously with traffic associated with another if the bandwidth of either physical channel spectrally overlaps that of the other. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system for efficiently transmitting upstream data traffic assigned to a plurality of physical channels at a node in a communication network comprising:
a high level MAP scheduler for scheduling the transmission of traffic by the physical channels such that traffic associated with one of the plurality of physical channels is not transmitted simultaneously with traffic associated with another if the bandwidth of either physical channel spectrally overlaps that of the other. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for efficiently transmitting upstream data traffic in a cable modem termination system network from a plurality of cable modems, the traffic being assigned to a plurality of physical channels at a fiber node based on the cable modem protocol being used, comprising:
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a plurality of low-level schedulers that control a corresponding plurality of PHY devices;
a high level MAP scheduler for scheduling the plurality of low-level schedulers such that traffic associated with one of the plurality of physical channels is not transmitted simultaneously with traffic associated with another if the bandwidth of either physical channel spectrally overlaps that of the other. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification