Dynamic traffic bandwidth management system and method for a communication network
First Claim
1. A communications system, comprising:
- network system equipment coupled to, and providing connections between, a circuit switched telephone network, a plurality of customer premise equipment (“
CPE”
), and the internet via a network terminator, for providing voice and data services to a plurality of customer premises; and
network control system, coupled to the network system equipment, for coordinating connections between the plurality of CPEs and the telephone network and the internet, and for managing traffic therebetween, the network control system including a first database that includes system configuration information and configuration information for each CPE coupled to the network system equipment, a second database that includes information indicative of service connections currently being utilized in the communications system and the usage by each CPE, and a control processor for periodically polling the first database and the second database to determine the bandwidth capacity currently being utilized in the communications system and throttling the amount of data services entering the communications system in response to the determined bandwidth utilization.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and a method for managing service traffic in a communications network capable of providing voice, data, and A/V services to a plurality of customers. In particular, the present invention is a digital subscriber line system (DSL), preferably based on ADSL, having a plurality of customer premise equipment (CPEs) coupled to voice, data and A/V services via network system equipment comprising a DSLAM, an ATM switch and a DSL terminator for connecting the system to the internet. The invention provides a network control system that includes a plurality of databases including a provisioning database and a real time database indicative of the actual bandwidth being utilized. A service control processor coupled to the plurality of databases and the network system equipment periodically polls the databases to determine the amount of bandwidth being used, and if the usage exceeds a predetermined level, throttles the internet data entering the system through the DSL terminator and/or the user data entering the system through the CPEs. Preferrably, throttling is performed using a leaky-bucket algorithm. By dynamically managing the traffic flow in the network, the present invention reduces the potential for dropped calls and similar service restrictions.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A communications system, comprising:
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network system equipment coupled to, and providing connections between, a circuit switched telephone network, a plurality of customer premise equipment (“
CPE”
), and the internet via a network terminator, for providing voice and data services to a plurality of customer premises; and
network control system, coupled to the network system equipment, for coordinating connections between the plurality of CPEs and the telephone network and the internet, and for managing traffic therebetween, the network control system including a first database that includes system configuration information and configuration information for each CPE coupled to the network system equipment, a second database that includes information indicative of service connections currently being utilized in the communications system and the usage by each CPE, and a control processor for periodically polling the first database and the second database to determine the bandwidth capacity currently being utilized in the communications system and throttling the amount of data services entering the communications system in response to the determined bandwidth utilization. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In a communication system comprising:
- network system equipment coupled to, and providing connections between, a circuit switch telephone network, a plurality of customer premise equipment (“
CPE”
), and the internet via a network terminator, for providing voice and data services to a plurality of customer premises; and
a network control system, coupled to the network system equipment, for coordinating connections between the plurality of CPEs and the telephone network and the internet, and for managing traffic therebetween, a method for controlling the communications system comprising the steps of;
providing a first database that includes system configuration information and configuration information for each CPE coupled to the network system equipment;
providing second database that includes information indicative of service connections currently being utilized in the communications system and the usage by each CPE;
periodically polling the first database and the second database to determine the bandwidth capacity currently being utilized in the communications system; and
throttling the amount of data services entering the communications system in response to the determined bandwidth utilization level. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
- network system equipment coupled to, and providing connections between, a circuit switch telephone network, a plurality of customer premise equipment (“
Specification
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- Resources
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Current AssigneeInterDigital Madison Patent Holdings (InterDigital, Inc.)
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Original AssigneeThomson Licensing (Vantiva SA)
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InventorsStahl, Thomas Anthony, Richardson, John William
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Granted Patent
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Time in Patent OfficeDays
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Field of Search
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US Class Current370/230.100
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CPC Class CodesH04L 2012/561 Star, e.g. cross-connect, c...H04L 2012/5618 Bridges, gateways [GW] or i...H04L 2012/5632 Bandwidth allocationH04L 2012/5637 Leaky BucketsH04L 2012/5651 Priority, marking, classesH04L 2012/5664 Support of Video, e.g. MPEGH04L 2012/5671 Support of voiceH04Q 11/0478 Provisions for broadband co...
