Method for automatically providing quality of service

• US 20070025243A1
• Filed: 03/24/2006
• Published: 02/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ayyagari, Deepak, Gavette, Sherman
• Granted Patent: US 8,027,345 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/229
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5408 using protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5445 Local network
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/54 Systems for transmission via power distribution lines
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/403 with centralised control, e.g. polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2433 Allocation of priorities to traffic types
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2483 involving identification of individual flows
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/43 Assembling or disassembling of packets, e.g. segmentation and reassembly [SAR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

The embodiments of the present invention provide methods, devices, and systems that automatically provide quality of service to one or more packets, typically by determining whether packets are connection-worthy and accordingly providing connection specifications.

Claims

1. A method of automatically establishing a connection for at least one packet that has no associated classifier rule matched by a classifier, the method comprising the steps of:

examining the at least one packet;

releasing the at least one packet to connectionless traffic after the examining step;

determining whether the at least one packet is connection worthy; and

if the at least one packet is connection worthy, updating the classifier with at least one classifier rule related to the at least one packet, wherein the at least one classifier rule comprises connection information and a set of one or more criteria.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining whether the at least one packet is connection worthy is based on at least one of the following:

one or more policies;

one or more templates; and

one or more heuristic algorithms.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one classifier rule further comprises a rule priority.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one packet is transmitted in a power line communication network.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

generating a connection specification for the at least one packet; and

initiating the connection based on the generated connection specification.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of:

transmitting the at least one packet, associated with the generated connection specification, via the established connection.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of:

determining whether the generated connection specification is appropriate for the at least one packet.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the connection is allocated by a central coordinator using beacons indicating bandwidth allocation.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of:

reconfiguring the connection.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

if the at least one packet is not connection worthy, releasing the at least one packet to connectionless service.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one packet is from a legacy application.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one packet is bridged from another network.

13. A device adapted to be operably coupled to a network, the device comprising:

a classifier adapted to;

match at least one packet with at least one rule in a set of classifier rules; and

associate the at least one packet to one or more connections when the at least one packet matches with the at least one rule;

an auto-connect service module adapted to;

if the at least one packet is not matched with the at least one rule in the set of classifier rules,

examine the at least one packet;

release the at least one packet to connectionless traffic after the examination;

determine whether the at least one packet is connection worthy; and

a rule configurator module adapted to;

if the at least one packet is determined connection worthy,

update the classifier with at least one new classifier rule wherein the at least one new classifier rule is based on the at least one packet, the at least one new classifier rule comprising connection information and a set of one or more criteria.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the auto-connect service module is further adapted to determine whether the at least one packet is connection worthy based on at least one of the following:

one or more policies;

one or more templates; and

one or more heuristic algorithms.

15. The device of claim 13, wherein the at least one new classifier rule further comprises a rule priority.

16. The device of claim 13, wherein the network is a power line communication network.

17. The device of claim 13, wherein the auto-connect service module is further adapted to:

generate a connection specification for the at least one packet; and

initiate a connection based on the generated connection specification.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the auto-connect service module is further adapted to:

determine whether the generated connection specification is appropriate for the at least one packet.

19. The device of claim 13, wherein the at least one packet is from a legacy application.

20. A system comprising:

a first device comprising,

a classifier adapted to;

match at least one packet with at least one rule in a set of classifier rules; and

associate the at least one packet to one or more connections when the at least one packet matches with the at least one rule;

an auto-connect service module adapted to;

if the at least one packet is not matched with the at least one rule in the set of classifier rules,

examine the at least one packet;

release the at least one packet to connectionless traffic after the examination;

determine whether the at least one packet is connection worthy;

generate a connection specification for the at least one packet; and

initiate a connection based on the generated connection specification; and

a rule configurator module adapted to;

if the at least one packet is determined connection worthy,

update the classifier with at least one new classifier rule wherein the at least one new classifier rule is based on the at least one packet, the at least one new classifier rule comprising connection information and a set of one or more criteria;

a second device adapted to receive packets via the initiated connection; and

a network segment operably connecting the first device and the second device.