Adaptive quality of service policy for dynamic networks

• US 20070064604A1
• Filed: 09/20/2005
• Published: 03/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Chen, Liren, Steenstra, Jack, Taylor, Kirk
• Granted Patent: US 8,259,566 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0002 by adapting the transmission rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0007 by modifying the frame length
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0017 where the mode-switching is based on Quality of Service requirement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0098 Unequal error protection

Abstract

A close-loop quality of service system is provided that collects real-time network performance indicators at the physical, data link and network layers. Using those indicators, the system dynamically controls the network traffic in order to achieve improved performance according to the priority and policy defined by a data user or system/network administrator. Several features of this quality of service system includes (1) dynamic maximum bandwidth reallocation, (2) dynamic maximum packet sizing, (3) adaptive policing, and/or (4) real-time link status feedbacks to make more efficient use of available bandwidth and adjust to transmission requirements.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an input interface to receive digital information;

a processing unit coupled to the input interface, the processing unit configured to

organize the digital information into packets, each packet associated with one of a plurality of service classes;

monitor real-time characteristics of a dynamic communication link to identify a change in bandwidth; and

if the bandwidth of the dynamic communication link changes, dynamically adjust a quality of service policy to reallocate the maximum bandwidth per service class.

2. The apparatus of 1 wherein the processing unit is further configured to

transmit the packets according to the quality of service policy.

3. The apparatus of 1 wherein the processing unit is further configured to

determine whether jitter on the dynamic communication link has changed, and

if the jitter has changed, adjust the maximum packet size of transmitted packets to maintain a maximum packet transmission time approximately constant.

4. The apparatus of 1 wherein the processing unit is further configured to

determine whether jitter is present in the dynamic communication link, and

if jitter is present, rearrange the priority order of one or more service classes to give time-sensitive digital information greater priority.

5. A communication gateway comprising:

means for receiving digital information;

means for organizing the digital information into packets, each packet associated with one of a plurality of service classes;

means for monitoring real-time characteristics of a dynamic communication link to identify a change in bandwidth; and

if the bandwidth of the dynamic communication link changes, means for dynamically adjusting a quality of service policy to reallocate the maximum bandwidth per service class.

6. A method for adaptive bandwidth reallocation for quality of service policy of a dynamic communication link comprising:

receiving digital information from one or more sources;

organizing the digital information into packets, each packet associated with one of a plurality of service classes;

dynamically adjusting a quality of service policy to reallocate the maximum bandwidth per service class if the bandwidth of the dynamic communication link changes; and

transmitting the packets according to a predefined quality of service policy.

7. The method of 6 further comprising:

monitoring the real-time bandwidth characteristics of the dynamic communication link.

8. The method of 6 wherein the delivery priority level associated with each packet is determined by the timing requirements of the digital information contained in the packet.

9. The method of 6 further comprising:

dynamically adjusting a maximum packet size for the packets to maintain a maximum packet transmission time across the dynamic communication link approximately constant; and

rearranging the order of packets to give time-sensitive packets greater priority if jitter is present.

10. A machine-readable medium having one or more instructions for dynamically adjusting maximum bandwidth allocations of a communication system, which when executed by a processor causes the processor to:

receive digital information;

classify the digital information into one or more service classes;

monitor real-time characteristics of a dynamic communication link having varying bandwidth; and

dynamically adjust a quality of service policy for the one or more service classes according to the real-time characteristics of the dynamic communication link.

11. The machine-readable medium of 10 wherein the quality of service is adjusted if the bandwidth of the dynamic communication link changes.

12. The machine-readable medium of 11 wherein dynamically adjusting the quality of service policy of the one or more service classes includes proportionally reallocating a total bandwidth of the dynamic communication link according to previous maximum allocation percentages.

13. The machine-readable medium of 11 wherein dynamically adjusting the quality of service policy of the one or more service classes includes reallocating a total bandwidth of the dynamic communication link according to current traffic demands over the dynamic communication link.

14. The machine-readable medium 10 wherein dynamically adjusting the quality of service policy includes denying service to new digital information in a service class if the allocated bandwidth is insufficient to support the minimum transmission rate for existing digital information in the service class.

15. The machine-readable medium of 10 wherein dynamically adjusting the quality of service policy includes allocating a maximum bandwidth for each service class that is equal to or greater than a minimum bandwidth necessary to support minimum transmission rates of information in each service class.

16. The machine-readable medium of 10 wherein dynamically adjusting the quality of service policy includes denying service to new digital information in a service class if the allocated bandwidth for the service class is insufficient to support the minimum transmission rate for existing digital information in the service class.

17. The machine-readable medium of 10 further comprising:

segment the digital information into packets; and

transmit the packets over the dynamic communication link according to the quality of service policy.

18. The machine-readable medium of 10 wherein the quality of service policy is set at a network layer of a network stack.

19. The machine-readable medium of 10 further comprising:

determine whether jitter on the dynamic communication link has changed, and

if the jitter has changed, adjust the maximum packet size of the digital information to maintain a maximum packet transmission time approximately constant.

20. The machine-readable medium of 10 further comprising:

determine whether jitter is present in the dynamic communication link, and

if jitter is present, rearrange the priority order of one or more service classes to give time-sensitive digital information greater priority.

21. The machine-readable medium of 10 further comprising:

implement two or more network stack layers to transmit digital information from one or more service classes across the dynamic communication link, and

share dynamic link status information from a first network stack layer with a second network stack layer.

22. The machine-readable medium of 21 wherein the dynamic link status information is shared from either the physical layer or data link layer with the network layer.

23. A machine-readable medium having one or more instructions for implementing dynamic packet sizing, which when executed by a processor causes the processor to:

receive digital information;

segment the digital information into packets;

monitor real-time characteristics of a dynamic communication link having varying bandwidth;

determine if timing jitter of the dynamic communication link has changed; and

dynamically adjust a maximum packet length of the digital information to maintain a maximum packet transmission time approximately constant.

24. The machine-readable medium of 23 further comprising:

determine whether jitter in the dynamic communication link has changed.

25. A machine-readable medium having one or more instructions for implementing adaptive policing of digital information packets, which when executed by a processor causes the processor to:

determine whether jitter is present in a dynamic communication link; and

rearrange the order of digital information packets to give time-sensitive packets greater priority when jitter is present.

26. The machine-readable medium of 25 further comprising:

determine delivery priorities of a plurality of digital information packets.

27. A machine-readable medium having one or more instructions for sharing dynamic link status information across two or more network stack layers, which when executed by a processor causes the processor to:

implement two or more network stack layers to transmit digital information of one or more service classes across the dynamic communication link; and

share dynamic link status information from a first network stack layer with a second network stack layer.

28. The machine-readable medium of 27 wherein the first network stack layer is either the physical layer or data link layer of a network stack and the second network stack layer is the network layer.

29. The machine-readable medium of 27 further comprising:

obtain real-time link status feedback from a data link layer of the network stack and apply it to quality of service operations at the network layer of the network stack.

30. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving digital information;

means for classifying the digital information into one or more service classes;

means for monitoring real-time characteristics of a dynamic communication link having varying bandwidth; and

means for dynamically adjusting a quality of service policy for the one or more service classes according to the real-time characteristics of the dynamic communication link.

31. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving digital information;

means for segmenting the digital information into packets;

means for monitoring real-time characteristics of a dynamic communication link having varying bandwidth;

means for determining if timing jitter of the dynamic communication link has changed; and

means for dynamically adjusting a maximum packet length of the digital information to maintain a maximum packet transmission time approximately constant.

32. An apparatus comprising:

means for determining whether jitter is present in a dynamic communication link; and

means for adaptively rearranging the order of digital information packets to give time-sensitive packets greater priority when jitter is present.

33. An apparatus comprising:

means for implementing two or more network stack layers to transmit digital information from one or more service classes across a dynamic communication link; and

means for sharing dynamic link status information from a first network stack layer with a second network stack layer.