Method and system for efficient flow control in a spot beam satellite system

• US 20060262724A1
• Filed: 05/17/2005
• Published: 11/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hughes Network Systems LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hughes Network Systems LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Inventors: Stevens, Patrick, Lin, Peter, Arur, Deepak, Friedman, Daniel, Torres, Robert, Schweinhart, Craig, Burrell, Ken, Kannan, Mangala, Butehorn, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 8,675,486 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18582 Arrangements for data linking, i.e. for data framing, for error recovery, for multiple access
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/30 in combination with information about buffer occupancy at either end or at transit nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/39 Credit based
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

An approach for providing flow control in a radio communication system is disclosed. A request from a non-satellite system specific side of a transport interface is made to a system specific side of the transport interface for a flow control allocation that specifies an amount of data to be stored in a queue of the system specific side of the transport interface. The system specific side supports a signaling function that is based on a transmission characteristic of the radio communication system. The flow control allocation is generated based upon availability of the queue, wherein the destination address is a link layer address of the satellite communication system. This arrangement has particular applicability to a satellite network (e.g., Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) network) that provides data communication services.

Claims

1. A method for providing flow control in a radio communication system, the method comprising:

receiving a dataflow from a host;

storing the dataflow in a queue of a system non-specific side of a transport interface;

determining whether the dataflow can be flow controlled;

if the dataflow can be flow controlled, obtaining a credit allocation corresponding to a queue of a system specific side of the transport interface, wherein the system specific side supports a signaling function that is based on a transmission characteristic of the radio communication system, the system specific queue being designated for storing data to be transmitted over the radio communication system, the credit allocation specifying an amount of the dataflow to be sent to the system specific queue; and

transferring the dataflow from the system non-specific queue to the system specific queue for transmission over a communication link established over the radio communication system.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the system specific queue is one of a plurality of system-specific queues corresponding to a plurality of classes of service or a destination region.

3. A method according to claim 2, further comprising:

classifying the dataflow according to one of the classes of service, wherein the system specific queue corresponds to the one class of service.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the dataflow includes spoofed traffic.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the system specific queue is assigned to the communication link.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the radio communication system is a satellite network supporting a downlink spot beam, and the communication link is associated with the downlink spot beam.

7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

periodically outputting the credit allocation to the system non-specific side.

8. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information from the system non-specific side on arrival rate of the dataflow, wherein the credit allocation is based, in part, on the arrival rate information.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the system specific side determines the credit allocation based on a Medium Access Control (MAC) address.

10. A computer-readable medium bearing instructions for providing flow control in a radio communication system, said instruction, being arranged, upon execution, to cause one or more processors to perform the method of claim 1.

11. An apparatus for providing flow control in a radio communication system, the method comprising:

a transport interface including,

a system non-specific side that is associated with a queue for storing a dataflow from a host, and

a system specific side configured to generate a credit allocation specifying an amount of the dataflow to be sent to a queue of the system specific side, the system specific side supporting signaling functions that are tailored to the radio communication system and being associated with a queue designated for storing data to be transmitted over the radio communication system, wherein the dataflow is transferred from the queue of the system non-specific side to the queue of the system specific side for transmission over a communication link established over the radio communication system.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising:

a flow control logic configured to determine whether the dataflow can be flow controlled.

13. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the system specific queue is one of a plurality of system-specific queues corresponding to a plurality of classes of service or a destination region.

14. An apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising:

a classifier configured to classify the dataflow according to one of the classes of service, wherein the queue of the system specific side corresponds to the one class of service.

15. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the dataflow includes spoofed traffic.

16. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the system specific queue is assigned to the communication link.

17. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the radio communication system is a satellite network supporting a downlink spot beam, and the communication link is associated with the downlink spot beam.

18. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the credit allocation is periodically output to the system non-specific side.

19. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the credit allocation is based, in part, on arrival rate information associated with the dataflow, the arrival rate information being provided by the system non-specific side.

20. A method for providing flow control in a satellite communication system, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a non-satellite system specific side of a transport interface for a flow control allocation that specifies an amount of data to be stored in a queue of a satellite system specific side of the transport interface, wherein the system specific side supports a signaling function that is based on a transmission characteristic of the radio communication system; and

generating the flow control allocation based upon availability of the queue.

21. A method according to claim 20, wherein the queue is one of a plurality of system-specific queues corresponding to a plurality of classes of service or a destination region.

22. A method according to claim 21, further comprising:

classifying the data according to one of the classes of service, wherein the queue corresponds to the one class of service.

23. A method according to claim 20, wherein the data is included in a dataflow that is spoofed.

24. A method according to claim 20, wherein the satellite communication system utilizes a plurality of downlink spot beams, the queue being assigned to a particular one of the downlink spot beams.

25. A method according to claim 20, further comprising:

periodically outputting the credit allocation to the system non-specific side.

26. A method according to claim 20, further comprising:

receiving information from the system non-specific side on arrival rate of the dataflow, wherein the credit allocation is based, in part, on the arrival rate information.

27. A method according to claim 20, wherein the flow control allocation is generated based on a Medium Access Control (MAC) address corresponding to the queue.

28. A computer-readable medium bearing instructions for providing flow control in a radio communication system, said instruction, being arranged, upon execution, to cause one or more processors to perform the method of claim 20.