Traffic management for frame relay switched data service

• US 20050105466A1
• Filed: 12/21/2004
• Published: 05/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Christopher J. Chase, John Babu Medamana, Stephen L. Holmgren, Vikram R. Saksena
• Original Assignee: Christopher J. Chase, John Babu Medamana, Stephen L. Holmgren, Vikram R. Saksena
• Inventors: Medamana, John Babu, Saksena, Vikram R., Holmgren, Stephen L., Chase, Christopher J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,668,095 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4608 LAN interconnection over ATM networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5602 Bandwidth control in ATM Networks, e.g. leaky bucket
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5636 Monitoring or policing, e.g. compliance with allocated rate, corrective actions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5645 Connectionless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/567 Frame Relay over ATM
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/17 Shortcut routing, e.g. using next hop resolution protocol [NHRP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/105 ATM switching elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0478 Provisions for broadband connections

Abstract

A new type of data transport service which uses a frame relay layer 2 data link connection identifier (DLCI) to select among various service types, feature sets, and/or closed user groups (CUGs). A layer 3 address may be extracted from a layer 2 frame, and the layer 3 address information may be used to route a data packet over a packet-switched network according to the service classes, feature sets, and/or CUGs selected. At the destination, the layer 3 data packet may again be enclosed in a layer 2 frame with a DLCI indicating the service classes, features sets, and/or CUGs. Because the use of conventional permanent virtual circuits (PVCs) is not required in aspects of the invention, new methods of measuring and managing network traffic are presented.

Claims

1. In a fast-packet network, a method comprising the step of managing according to a committed delivery rate at least one of a plurality of actual network transmission rates for at least one of a plurality of active sources, the committed delivery rate being associated with a destination.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the step of averaging at least one of a plurality of offering rates of at least one of the active sources over a time window.

3. The method of claim 2 further including the step of defining a length of the time window to be variable.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of managing includes the step of controlling a total delivery rate (R) to the destination according to the committed delivery rate (CDR) and a plurality of offering rates (S) of a first group of the plurality of active sources i, the active sources in the first group offering to send a plurality of data packets to the destination, such that:

$\begin{array}{cc}R\ge <br><br>\mathrm{CDR}& \mathrm{if}<br><br>\text{\hspace{1em}<br><br>}<br><br>\underset{i}{\sum <br><br>}<br><br>S_i\ge <br><br>\mathrm{CD}\\ R=\sum <br><br>S_i& \mathrm{otherw}\end{array}$

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of managing further includes the step of identifying at least one of the plurality of data packets as being nonconforming when a sum of the offering rates of the first group of active sources is greater than the committed delivery rate.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the step of managing further includes the step of dropping at least one of the identified data packets.

7. The method of claim 1 further including the step of assigning a destination rate share to each of a first group of the active sources, the first group of active sources offering to send a plurality of data packets to the destination.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of assigning includes the step of assigning the destination rate share according to an identity of the destination.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of managing includes the step of managing according to the destination rate shares of the first group of active sources an actual network transmission rate for at least one of the active sources in the first group of active sources.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of managing further includes the step of determining a fair share rate (r) for at least one of the active sources i in the first group of active sources according to the destination rate share (DRS) of the at least one active source and the committed delivery rate (CDR), such that:

$r_i=\frac{{\mathrm{DRS}}_i}{\underset{i}{\sum <br><br>}<br><br>{\mathrm{DRS}}_i}<br><br>\mathrm{CD}$

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of managing further includes the step of adjusting the actual network transmission rate (T) for at least one of the active sources i in the first group of active sources according to the offering rate (S) of the at least one active source, the fair share rate (r) of the at least one active source, and the committed delivery rate (CDR), such that:

$\mathrm{when}<br><br>\text{\hspace{1em}<br><br>}<br><br>\underset{i}{\sum <br><br>}<br><br>S_i\ge <br><br>\mathrm{CDI}$ $T_i\ge <br><br>\min <br><br>\left(r_i,S_i\right)$

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of managing further includes the step of identifying at least one of the data packets as being nonconforming when the sum of the offering rates of the first group of active sources is greater than the committed delivery rate.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the step of managing further includes the step of dropping at least one of the identified data packets.

14. The method of claim 1 further including the step of reserving a first portion of network bandwidth for a first inactive source sufficient to allow the first inactive source to begin to send data packets through the network at a rate at least equal to a first reference rate.

15. The method of claim 14 further including the step of determining the first reference rate according to a total number of inactive sources.

16. The method of claim 14 further including the step of determining the first reference rate according to a first priority classification of the first inactive source.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of managing includes the step of notifying at least one of the active sources of network congestion by providing a backward congestion notification to the at least one active source when an offering rate of the at least one active source exceeds the actual network transmission rate for the at least one active source.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the step of notifying the at least one active source includes the step of providing a Layer 2 backward congestion notification to the at least one active source.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the step of notifying the at least one active source includes the step of providing a Layer 3 backward congestion notification to the at least one active source.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the step of notifying the at least one active source further includes the step of providing information representing an identity of the destination, the at least one active source offering to send a plurality of data packets to the destination.