Rural broadband hybrid satellite/terrestrial solution

• US 20060050736A1
• Filed: 09/08/2004
• Published: 03/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Segel, Jonathan Dean
• Granted Patent: US 7,477,597 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/474
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18591 Arrangements for interconnecting multiple systems data switching networks H04L12/00

Abstract

At a remote site, a satellite route is installed to augment the capacity of a terrestrial route. A specialized forwarding unit is introduced at both ends of these parallel satellite and terrestrial routes. The forwarding unit identifies what type of traffic needs a higher performance forward, and forwards the traffic accordingly. For example, latency-sensitive traffic can be forwarded over the terrestrial route and the latency insensitive traffic can be forwarded over the satellite route.

Claims

1. A hybrid satellite-terrestrial unit for providing broadband services to a plurality of end-user systems, comprising:

a multiplexer for combining data received from said end-user systems into an upstream traffic flow; and

a specialized forwarding unit for segregating said upstream traffic flow received form said multiplexer, into a terrestrial traffic flow and a satellite traffic flow, and routing said terrestrial traffic flow along a terrestrial route and said satellite traffic flow along a satellite route,

wherein said terrestrial route connects said specialized forwarding unit to a terrestrial network and said satellite route connects said specialized forwarding unit to a satellite network.

2. The hybrid satellite-terrestrial unit of claim 1, wherein said specialized forwarding unit comprises:

a terrestrial route interface for converting the format of said terrestrial traffic flow from a routing unit protocol to a terrestrial protocol used for communication along said terrestrial route;

a satellite route interface for converting the format of said terrestrial traffic flow from said routing unit protocol to a satellite protocol used for communication along said satellite route;

a traffic splitting unit for segregating said upstream traffic flow into said terrestrial traffic flow and satellite traffic flow; and

traffic monitoring means for characterizing said upstream traffic flow and controlling said traffic splitting unit to recognize said terrestrial traffic flow and said satellite traffic flow.

3. The hybrid satellite terrestrial unit of claim 2, wherein said traffic monitoring means comprises:

a traffic recognition rules unit for storing said traffic recognition rules; and

a traffic splitting decision rules unit for categorizing said upstream traffic flow based on splitting decision rules and controlling said traffic splitting unit accordingly.

4. The hybrid satellite terrestrial unit of claim 2, wherein said traffic monitoring means further comprises a link monitor for monitoring said terrestrial and satellite traffic flows at said respective terrestrial and satellite interfaces for collecting said current traffic performance data and providing said current traffic performance data to said traffic splitting unit.

5. The hybrid satellite-terrestrial unit of claim 3, further comprising a management interface for updating said traffic recognition rules.

6. The hybrid satellite-terrestrial unit of claim 3, further comprising a management interface for updating said traffic splitting decision rules.

7. The hybrid satellite-terrestrial unit of claim 2, wherein said terrestrial and said satellite route interfaces are bidirectional.

8. The hybrid satellite-terrestrial unit of claim 7, wherein said specialized forwarding unit further comprises a traffic merging unit connected to said terrestrial and satellite route interfaces, for combining a downstream terrestrial traffic flow received via said terrestrial route with a downstream satellite traffic flow received over said satellite route and providing a downstream traffic flow to said multiplexer.

9. A specialized forwarding unit for routing a traffic flow over one of a satellite route and a terrestrial route, comprising:

a traffic splitting unit for segregating said traffic flow into a terrestrial traffic flow and a satellite traffic flow;

a terrestrial route interface for converting the format of said terrestrial traffic flow from a routing unit protocol to a terrestrial protocol used for communication along said terrestrial route;

a satellite route interface for converting the format of said satellite traffic flow from said routing unit protocol to a satellite protocol used for communication along said satellite route; and

traffic monitoring means for characterizing said traffic flow, and controlling said traffic splitting unit to recognize said terrestrial traffic flow and said satellite traffic flows.

10. The specialized forwarding unit of claim 9, wherein said traffic monitoring means comprises:

a traffic recognition rules unit for storing said traffic recognition rules; and

a traffic splitting decision rules unit for categorizing said forward traffic flow based on splitting decision rules and controlling said traffic splitting unit accordingly.

11. The specialized forwarding unit of claim 10, wherein said traffic monitoring means further comprises a link monitor for monitoring said terrestrial and satellite traffic flows at said respective terrestrial and satellite interfaces at said terrestrial and satellite interfaces for collecting said current traffic performance data and providing said current traffic performance data to said traffic splitting unit.

12. A method for providing broadband services to a plurality of end-user systems connected to a customer access system, comprising:

(a) combining data received from said end-user systems into an upstream traffic flow; and

(b) splitting said upstream traffic flow into a terrestrial traffic flow and a satellite traffic flow for routing said terrestrial traffic flow along a terrestrial route, and said satellite traffic flow along a satellite route;

wherein said terrestrial and said satellite routes connect said specialized forwarding unit to a respective far-end specialized unit.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said step (b) comprises:

b1) characterizing said upstream traffic flow based on traffic recognition rules;

b2) segregating said upstream traffic flow into said terrestrial traffic flow and said satellite traffic flow using traffic splitting decision rules; and

b3) routing said terrestrial traffic flow over said terrestrial route and said satellite traffic flow over said satellite route.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said step b1) comprises storing and updating said traffic recognition rules;

and categorizing said forward traffic flow based on said traffic recognition rules.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein said step b1) further comprises monitoring said terrestrial and satellite traffic flows at said respective terrestrial and satellite interfaces for collecting current traffic performance data for use in step b2).

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

providing a feedback interface for connecting said customer access system to a network end routing unit; and

transmitting said current traffic performance information and test data over said feedback interface to said network end routing unit.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said test data includes RTP encapsulated packets to test for timing, packet loss, and packet mis-ordering.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising updating said traffic recognition rules.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising updating said traffic splitting decision rules.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein said step b3) comprises:

converting the format of said terrestrial traffic flow from a routing unit protocol to a terrestrial protocol used for communication along said terrestrial route; and

converting the format of said satellite traffic flow from said routing unit protocol to a satellite protocol used for communication along said satellite route.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

combining a downstream terrestrial traffic flow received via said terrestrial route with a downstream satellite traffic flow received via said satellite route into a downstream traffic flow; and

distributing said downstream traffic flow to said plurality of end-user systems.

22. The method of claim 13, wherein traffic in said upstream traffic flow is classified based on one or more of latency, class of service, bit error rate, packet loss ratio, delay, availability of said terrestrial and satellite routes, capacity loading, expected traffic demand associated with a particular traffic flow, historically observed patterns such as time of day, day of week, holidays, and seasonal variations.

23. The method of claim 13, wherein traffic in said upstream traffic flow is classified based on one or more of:

transmission protocol, OSI layer 2/3 information contained in the protocol headers, host DNS name, URL, IP port, QoS markings and interface type.

24. The method of claim 12, wherein said current traffic performance data includes one or more of packet loss, latency or delay, delay variation, bit error rate, errored packet rate, minimum throughput, average throughput, maximum throughput, packet re-ordering, availability, and capacity fill.

25. A hybrid satellite-terrestrial networking system providing broadband services to a plurality of end-user systems, comprising:

satellite network links,

terrestrial network links,

an access multiplexer for combining data received from said end-user systems into an upstream traffic flow and distributing downstream data to said end-user systems,

a specialized forwarding unit at the access end of the network for splitting said upstream traffic from said access multiplexer to the core of the network via said satellite network links and said terrestrial network links and merging downstream data from the core of the network to said access multiplexer via said satellite network links and said terrestrial network links, and

another specialized forwarding units at the core end of the network for splitting said downstream traffic from the core of the network to said access multiplexer via said satellite network links and said terrestrial network links and merging upstream data from said access multiplexer via said satellite network links to said terrestrial network links.

26. The hybrid satellite-terrestrial networking system of claim 25, wherein said specialized forwarding unit comprises:

a terrestrial route interface for converting the format of said terrestrial traffic flow from a forwarding unit protocol to a terrestrial protocol used for communication along said terrestrial route;

a satellite route interface for converting the format of said satellite traffic flow from said forwarding unit protocol to a satellite protocol used for communication along said satellite route;

a traffic splitting unit for segregating an outbound traffic flow into said terrestrial traffic flow and said satellite traffic flow;

a traffic merging unit for combining an inbound terrestrial traffic flow received via said terrestrial route with an inbound satellite traffic flow received over said satellite route;

traffic monitoring means for characterizing said inbound traffic flow into identified sub-flows, observing the status and quality of said terrestrial and satellite routes, deciding which of said characterized inbound traffic flows are most appropriately matched to said links, and controlling the operation of said traffic splitting unit to achieve the splitting of said inbound traffic according to defined rules.

27. The hybrid satellite-terrestrial networking system of claim 26, wherein said traffic monitoring means comprises:

a traffic recognition rules unit for storing said traffic recognition rules; and

a traffic splitting decision rules unit for matching said identified inbound traffic sub-flows to appropriate link types based on said traffic recognition rules and controlling said traffic splitting unit accordingly.

28. The hybrid satellite-terrestrial networking system of claim 26, wherein said traffic monitoring means further comprises a link monitor for monitoring said terrestrial and satellite traffic flows at said respective terrestrial and satellite interfaces, for collecting said current traffic performance data, for injecting test data into said links and sharing of link status and performance data with another of said link monitors at the far end of the links, and provision of link information to the traffic splitting unit.

29. The hybrid satellite-terrestrial networking system of claim 26, further comprising a management interface for updating said traffic recognition rules, for updating said traffic splitting rules, and for updating link monitoring methods.

30. A method for providing improving the performance of broadband networks using parallel satellite and terrestrial routes, comprising:

(a) splitting an inbound traffic flow into an outbound terrestrial traffic flow and an outbound satellite traffic flow

(b) forwarding said outbound terrestrial traffic flow along said terrestrial route, and said outbound satellite traffic flow along said satellite route;

(c) merging said inbound terrestrial traffic flow and said inbound satellite traffic flow.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein said step (a) comprises:

a1) recognizing sub-flows within said inbound traffic flow based on comparing information within the packets of said inbound traffic flow to traffic recognition rules

a2) prioritizing said recognized inbound sub-flows incorporating knowledge of link performance and status and using defined traffic splitting decision rules as to which of said recognized sub-flows should be forwarded over which of said satellite or terrestrial routes.

a3) splitting or segregating said upstream traffic flow into said terrestrial traffic flow and said satellite traffic flow

32. The method of claim 31, wherein said step a1) comprises storing and updating said traffic recognition rules and categorizing said traffic flow based on said traffic recognition rules.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein said step a2) comprises recognition of link performance and status factors based on latency (delay), jitter, bit error rate, packet loss ratio, errored packet rate, minimum throughput, average throughput, maximum throughput, packet order preservation, availability of said terrestrial and satellite routes, capacity loading, expected traffic demand associated with a particular traffic flow, historically observed patterns such as time-of-day, day-of-week, seasonal, holiday, or other special factors, or by time-series forecasting of trends based on any of said link performance and status factors

34. The method of claim 31, wherein said step a1) comprises recognition of said traffic sub-flows based based on any one or more of:

transmission protocol, OSI layer 2/3 information contained in the protocol headers, Source or destination MAC address, Source or destination IP address, host DNS name, URL, IP port, QoS markings and interface type, or a pattern of such information over time.

35. The method of claim 31, wherein step a1) further comprises the stateful detection of patterns of traffic over time employing knowledge of application behavior and uses these to dynamically adapt the rules identifying traffic types, communicating entities, or priorities.

36. The method of claim 31, wherein said step a2) comprises monitoring said terrestrial and satellite traffic flows at said respective terrestrial and satellite interfaces for collecting said current link performance data and using this information in association with said splitting decision rules.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the ability to monitor said link quality and status is enhanced by injection of test data at either end of the pair of links and by sharing of link status information between said link monitors at either end of said links.

38. The method of claim 35, wherein said test data includes RTP encapsulated packets to test for timing, packet loss, and packet mis-ordering.

39. The method of claim 31, further comprising updating said traffic recognition rules, traffic splitting decision rules, and link monitoring procedures via a management interface.

40. The method of claim 30, wherein said step b) and step c) comprises:

converting the format of said terrestrial traffic flow to and from a forwarding unit protocol to a terrestrial protocol used for communication along said terrestrial route; and

converting the format of said satellite traffic flow to and from said forwarding unit protocol to a satellite protocol used for communication along said satellite route.