Method and system to create a deterministic traffic profile for isochronous data networks

• US 20040143849A1
• Filed: 01/16/2003
• Published: 07/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: SBC Properties, L.P.
• Original Assignee: SBC Properties, L.P.
• Inventors: Costa, Pierre
• Application Number:
  US10/347,135
• Publication Number:
  US 20040143849A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2225 Local VOD servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2343 involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements video transcoding H04N19/40; media packet handling at the source H04L65/762
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/238 Interfacing the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. adapting the transmission rate of a video stream to network bandwidth; Processing of multiplex streams hybrid fiber coaxial [HFC] networks for downstream channel allocation for video distribution H04L12/2801; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; real-time communication protocols in data switching networks H04L65/00; scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26216 involving the channel capacity, e.g. network bandwidth admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a schedule or organising the servicing of application requests taking into account QoS H04L67/61
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2662 Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

A central office receives on-demand requests from customer premises for selected videos. For each request, a network manager determines a maximum aggregate bit rate of in-progress communications in a network between at least one video server and the central office. The maximum aggregate bit rate is based on associated upper bounds of bit rates for in-progress video downloads. The network manager determines if the network is capable of congestion-free communication of the selected video from the at least one video server to the central office concurrently with the in-progress communications based on a capacity of the network, the maximum aggregate bit rate, and an associated upper bound of bit rate for the selected video.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

for each of a plurality of videos, processing an associated variable bit rate (VBR) representation thereof to form an associated second representation having a reduced bit rate variation and a maximum bit rate less than or equal to an associated, known upper bound;

providing at least one video server to serve the second representation of the videos to a central office via a network;

receiving, at the central office, an on-demand request from a customer premise for a selected video from the at least one video server;

determining a maximum aggregate bit rate of in-progress communications in the network between the at least one video server and the central office, wherein the in-progress communications comprises at least two of the videos, and wherein the maximum aggregate bit rate is based on the associated upper bounds of the at least two of the videos; and

determining if the network is capable of congestion-free communication of the selected video from the at least one video server to the central office concurrently with the in-progress communications based on a capacity of the network, the maximum aggregate bit rate, and the associated upper bound for the selected video.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

if the network is determined to be capable of congestion-free communication of the selected video concurrently with the in-progress communications;

downloading the second representation of the selected video from the at least one video server to the central office via the network; and

communicating the second representation of the selected video from the central office to the customer premise.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

receiving the second representation at the customer premise;

converting the second representation back to the VBR representation at the customer premise; and

decoding the VBR representation to extract the video at the customer premise.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

inhibiting fulfillment of the video-on-demand request if the network is determined to be incapable of congestion-free communication of the selected video concurrently with the in-progress communications.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

if the network is determined to be incapable of congestion-free communication of the selected video concurrently with the in-progress communications;

increasing the capacity in the network so that the network is capable of congestion-free communication of the selected video;

downloading the second representation of the selected video from the at least one video server to the central office via the network; and

communicating the second representation of the selected video from the central office to the customer premise.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the VBR representation of the selected video comprises an MPEG-based representation of the selected video.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the second representation of the selected video comprises a constant bit rate representation.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the second representation of each of the plurality of videos comprises an associated constant bit rate representation.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least two of the videos comprise a first video and a second video, wherein the associated upper bound for the first video differs from the associated upper bound for the second video.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the network comprises at least one of an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network and an Internet Protocol (IP) network.

11. A system comprising:

a processor to process, for each of a plurality of videos, an associated variable bit rate (VBR) representation thereof to form an associated second representation having a reduced bit rate variation and a maximum bit rate less than or equal to an associated, known upper bound;

at least one video server to serve the second representation of the videos via a network;

a central office to receive an on-demand request from a customer premise for a selected video from the at least one video server, the central office having a network manager to;

determine a maximum aggregate bit rate of in-progress communications in the network between the at least one video server and the central office, wherein the in-progress communications comprises at least two of the videos, and wherein the maximum aggregate bit rate is based on the associated upper bounds of the at least two of the videos; and

determine if the network is capable of congestion-free communication of the selected video from the at least one video server to the central office concurrently with the in-progress communications based on a capacity of the network, the maximum aggregate bit rate, and the associated upper bound for the selected video.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein if the network manager determines that the network is capable of congestion-free communication of the selected video concurrently with the in-progress communications, the central office is to:

download the second representation of the selected video from the at least one video server via the network; and

communicate the second representation of the selected video to the customer premise.

13. The system of claim 12 further comprising:

a receiver to receive the second representation at the customer premise;

a converter to convert the second representation back to the VBR representation at the customer premise; and

a decoder to decode the VBR representation to extract the video at the customer premise.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the network manager is to inhibit fulfillment of the video-on-demand request if the network is determined to be incapable of congestion-free communication of the selected video concurrently with the in-progress communications.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein if the network manager determines that the network is incapable of congestion-free communication of the selected video concurrently with the in-progress communications, the central office is to:

increase the capacity in the network so that the network is capable of congestion-free communication of the selected video;

download the second representation of the selected video from the at least one video server via the network; and

communicate the second representation of the selected video to the customer premise.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein the VBR representation of the selected video comprises an MPEG-based representation of the selected video.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein the second representation of the selected video comprises a constant bit rate representation.

18. The system of claim 11 wherein the second representation of each of the plurality of videos comprises an associated constant bit rate representation.

19. The system of claim 11 wherein the at least two of the videos comprise a first video and a second video, wherein the associated upper bound for the first video differs from the associated upper bound for the second video.

20. The system of claim 11 wherein the network comprises at least one of an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network and an Internet Protocol (IP) network.