Session and application level bandwidth and/or QoS modification

• US 20050015493A1
• Filed: 11/19/2003
• Published: 01/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shrum, Edgar Vaughan Jr., Zhang, Li, Anschutz, Thomas Arnold, Cassanova, Jeffrey Patrick, Wright, Steven Allen
• Granted Patent: US 7,536,460 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1485 Tariff-related aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2408 for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/762 triggered by the network

Abstract

Methods, systems and/or computer program products are provided for managing Quality of Service (QoS) and/or bandwidth allocation in a Regional/Access Network (RAN) having a broadband access server (BRAS) that facilitates differentiated end-to-end data transport between a Network Service Provider (NSP) and/or an Application Service Provider (ASP), and a Customer Premises Network (CPN) that includes a Routing Gateway (RG). In particular embodiments of the present invention, a modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message including updated QoS and/or bandwidth information from the NSP and/or ASP is received at the RAN. The BRAS is updated with the QoS and/or bandwidth information and the RG is also updated with the QoS and/or bandwidth information.

Claims

1. A method of managing Quality of Service (QoS) and/or bandwidth allocation in a Regional/Access Network (RAN) having a broadband access server (BRAS) that facilitates differentiated end-to-end data transport between a Network Service Provider (NSP) and/or an Application Service Provider (ASP), and a Customer Premises Network (CPN) that includes a Routing Gateway (RG), comprising:

receiving at the RAN, a modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message including updated QoS and/or bandwidth information from the NSP and/or ASP;

updating the BRAS with the QoS and/or bandwidth information; and

sending updated QoS and/or bandwidth information to the RG.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message includes QoS and/or bandwidth information for a point-to-point protocol session.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message includes QoS and/or bandwidth information for an application flow.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending an acknowledgment message responsive to receipt of the modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message from the RAN to the NSP and/or ASP.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the RAN further includes an Application Network Interface (ANI) protocol handler, a DSL Service Manager, and a User Network Interface (UNI) protocol handler;

and

wherein receiving at the RAN, a modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message including updated QoS and/or bandwidth information from the NSP and/or ASP comprises receiving at the ANI protocol handler an update application flow control information message and/or a change session bandwidth request from the ASP.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein updating the BRAS with the QoS and/or bandwidth information comprises:

sending the received update application flow control information message and/or change session bandwidth request to the DSL service manager; and

sending the QoS and/or bandwidth information from the DSL service manager to the BRAS.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the DSL service manager further verifies authorization of the modification request and updates a local data repository of bandwidth and/or QoS data with the received QoS and/or bandwidth information.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein sending updated QoS and/or bandwidth information to the RG comprises:

sending the QoS and/or bandwidth information from the DSL service manager to the UNI protocol handler; and

sending the QoS and/or bandwidth information from the UNI protocol handler to the RG.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving at the UNI protocol handler an acknowledgment of receipt of the QoS and/or bandwidth information by the RG;

sending an acknowledgment from the UNI protocol handler to the DSL service manager responsive to receiving the acknowledgment of receipt at the UNI protocol handler; and

sending a response message to the ASP from the DSL manager via the ANI protocol handler.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the QoS and/or bandwidth information comprises point-to-point protocol session QoS and/or bandwidth information.

11. A system for managing Quality of Service (QoS) and/or bandwidth allocation in a Regional/Access Network (RAN) having a broadband access server (BRAS) that facilitates differentiated end-to-end data transport between a Network Service Provider (NSP) and/or an Application Service Provider (ASP), and a Customer Premises Network (CPN) that includes a Routing Gateway (RG), comprising:

means for receiving at the RAN, a modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message including updated QoS and/or bandwidth information from the NSP and/or ASP;

means for updating the BRAS with the QoS and/or bandwidth information; and

means for updating the RG with the QoS and/or bandwidth information.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message includes QoS and/or bandwidth information for a point-to-point protocol session.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message includes QoS and/or bandwidth information for an application flow.

14. The system of claim 11, further comprising means for sending an acknowledgment message responsive to receipt of the modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message from the RAN to the NSP and/or ASP.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the RAN further includes an Application Network Interface (ANI) protocol handler, a DSL Service Manager, and a User Network Interface (UNI) protocol handler;

and

wherein the means for receiving at the RAN, a modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message including updated QoS and/or bandwidth information from the NSP and/or ASP comprises means for receiving at the ANI protocol handler an update application flow control information message and/or a change session bandwidth request from the ASP.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the means for updating the BRAS with the QoS and/or bandwidth information comprises:

means for sending the received update application flow control information message and/or a change session bandwidth request to the DSL service manager; and

means for sending the QoS and/or bandwidth information from the DSL service manager to the BRAS.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the DSL service manager further includes means for verifying authorization of the modification request and means for updating a local data repository of bandwidth and/or QoS data with the received QoS and/or bandwidth information.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the means for updating the RG with the QoS and/or bandwidth information comprises:

means for sending the QoS and/or bandwidth information from the DSL service manager to the UNI protocol handler; and

means for sending the QoS and/or bandwidth information from the UNI protocol handler to the RG.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

means for receiving at the UNI protocol handler an acknowledgment of receipt of the QoS and/or bandwidth information by the RG;

means for sending an acknowledgment from the UNI protocol handler to the DSL service manager responsive to receiving the acknowledgment of receipt at the UNI protocol handler; and

means for sending a response message to the ASP from the DSL manager via the ANI protocol handler.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the QoS and/or bandwidth information comprises point-to-point protocol session QoS and/or bandwidth information.

21. A system for managing Quality of Service (QoS) and/or bandwidth allocation, comprising:

a Regional/Access Network (RAN) having a broadband access server (BRAS) that facilitates differentiated end-to-end data transport between a Network Service Provider (NSP) and/or an Application Service Provider (ASP), the RAN being configured to receive a modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message including updated QoS and/or bandwidth information from the NSP and/or ASP, update the BRAS with the QoS and/or bandwidth information update a Routing Gatewal (RG) of a Customer Premises Network (CPN) with the QoS and/or bandwidth information.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message includes QoS and/or bandwidth information for a point-to-point protocol session.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message includes QoS and/or bandwidth information for an application flow.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the RAN is further configured to send an acknowledgment message responsive to receipt of the modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message from the RAN to the NSP and/or ASP.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the RAN further includes a DSL Service Manager configured to control modifications of QoS and/or bandwidth allocation of the BRAS and/or the RG;

an Application Network Interface (ANI) protocol handler configured to receive an update application flow control information message and/or a change session bandwidth request from the ASP and pass the received message to the DSL Service Manager; and

a User Network Interface (UNI) protocol handler configured to interface between the DSL Service Manager and the RG.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the DSL Service Manager is further configured to pass the QoS and/or bandwidth information from the ANI protocol handler to the BRAS to update the QoS and/or bandwidth information of the BRAS.

27. The system of claim 26, further comprising a local data repository of bandwidth and/or QoS data and wherein the DSL Service Manager is further configured to verify authorization of the modification request and update the local data repository of bandwidth and/or QoS data with the received QoS and/or bandwidth information.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the DSL Service Manager is further configured to forward the QoS and/or bandwidth information to the UNI protocol handler;

and

wherein the UNI protocol handler is further configured to pass the QoS and/or bandwidth information to the RG.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the UNI protocol handler is further configured to receive an acknowledgment of receipt of the QoS and/or bandwidth information by the RG and forward the acknowledgment to the DSL Service Manager;

and

wherein the DSL Service Manager is further configured to send a response message to the ASP via the ANI protocol handler.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the QoS and/or bandwidth information comprises point-to-point protocol session QoS and/or bandwidth information.

31. A computer program product for managing Quality of Service (QoS) and/or bandwidth allocation in a Regional/Access Network (RAN) having a broadband access server (BRAS) that facilitates differentiated end-to-end data transport between a Network Service Provider (NSP) and/or an Application Service Provider (ASP), and a Customer Premises Network (CPN) that includes a Routing Gateway (RG), comprising:

a computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to receive at the RAN, a modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message including updated QoS and/or bandwidth information from the NSP and/or ASP;

computer readable program code configured to update the BRAS with the QoS and/or bandwidth information; and

computer readable program code configured to update the RG with the QoS and/or bandwidth information.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message includes QoS and/or bandwidth information for a point-to-point protocol session.

33. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message includes QoS and/or bandwidth information for an application flow.

34. The computer program product of claim 31, further comprising computer readable program code configured to send an acknowledgment message responsive to receipt of the modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message from the RAN to the NSP and/or ASP.

35. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the RAN further includes an Application Network Interface (ANI) protocol handler, a DSL Service Manager, and a User Network Interface (UNI) protocol handler;

and

wherein the computer readable program code configured to receive at the RAN, a modify QoS and/or bandwidth allocation message including updated QoS and/or bandwidth information from the NSP and/or ASP comprises computer readable program code configured to receive at the ANI protocol handler an update application flow control information message and/or a change session bandwidth request from the ASP.

36. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the computer readable program code configured to update the BRAS with the QoS and/or bandwidth information comprises:

computer readable program code configured to send the received update application flow control information message and/or change session bandwidth request to the DSL service manager; and

computer readable program code configured to send the QoS and/or bandwidth information from the DSL service manager to the BRAS.

37. The computer program product of claim 36, further comprising:

computer readable program code configured to verify authorization of the modification request; and

computer readable program code configured to update a local data repository of bandwidth and/or QoS data with the received QoS and/or bandwidth information.

38. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the computer readable program code configured to update the RG with the QoS and/or bandwidth information comprises:

computer readable program code configured to send the QoS and/or bandwidth information from the DSL service manager to the UNI protocol handler; and

computer readable program code configured to send the QoS and/or bandwidth information from the UNI protocol handler to the RG.

39. The computer program product of claim 38, further comprising:

computer readable program code configured to receive at the UNI protocol handler an acknowledgment of receipt of the QoS and/or bandwidth information by the RG;

computer readable program code configured to send an acknowledgment from the UNI protocol handler to the DSL service manager responsive to receiving the acknowledgment of receipt at the UNI protocol handler; and

computer readable program code configured to send a response message to the ASP from the DSL manager via the ANI protocol handler.

40. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the QoS and/or bandwidth information comprises point-to-point protocol session QoS and/or bandwidth information.