SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR QUALITY OF SERVICE (QoS) SETUP OF A NETWORK SEGMENT HAVING AN INTERMEDIATE DEVICE

• US 20070286074A1
• Filed: 06/07/2006
• Published: 12/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2006
• 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: Xu, Shugong
• Granted Patent: US 7,639,619 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2805 Home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2843 Mains power line
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2416 Real-time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2491 Mapping quality of service [QoS] requirements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

A system and method configures quality-of-service (QoS) in a segment of a network that has multiple segments with an intermediate device between the segments. The network may be a home network for the transmission of audio-video traffic streams between a media server or source, like a personal computer (PC), and a media renderer or sink, like a digital TV, with the intermediate device being a router, bridge or hub connected to its own network segment and located between the source and sink. One of the network devices contains a QoS parameter holder (QPH). After QoS has been configured in the source and sink and the traffic stream established, the intermediate device detects the traffic stream and determines that it needs to set up QoS. The intermediate device queries the QPH with a traffic stream identifier. The QPH finds the traffic descriptor that matches the traffic stream identifier and returns to the intermediate device the traffic descriptor that includes the QoS parameters. The intermediate device then uses the QoS parameters to configure QoS in its network segment.

Claims

1. A method for quality-of-service (QoS) setup in a network segment of a network that includes a source device for transmitting a data traffic stream, a sink device for receiving the traffic stream from the source device through an intermediate device of the network segment, and a QoS parameter holder (QPH), the method comprising:

detecting at the intermediate device a traffic stream identifier from the traffic stream;

querying the QPH for QoS parameters associated with the detected traffic stream identifier;

sending QoS parameters from the QPH;

receiving at the intermediate device QoS parameters from the QPH; and

configuring the network segment with the QoS parameters received at the intermediate device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein querying the QPH comprises sending the traffic stream identifier from the intermediate device to the QPH, further comprising associating at the QPH the traffic stream identifier with QoS parameters, and wherein sending the QoS parameters from the QPH comprises sending the QoS parameters associated with the detected traffic stream identifier.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein there are multiple traffic streams on the network and wherein sending QoS parameters from the QPH comprises sending multiple sets of QoS parameters, each QoS parameter set being associated with a traffic stream, and further comprising selecting at the intermediate device the QoS parameter set associated with the traffic stream identified by the intermediate device.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the network has two network segments, wherein a first network segment is a wide area network (WAN) comprising the source device and the intermediate device and a second network segment is a local area network (LAN) comprising the intermediate device and the sink device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the network is a local area network (LAN) having at least two network segments, wherein a first LAN segment comprises the source device and the intermediate device and a second LAN segment comprises the intermediate device and the sink device.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the data traffic stream is an audio/visual (AV) traffic stream.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the source, intermediate and sink devices is a universal-plug-and-play (UPnP) device containing QoS Device Service.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the QPH is a UPnP QoS Manager (QM).

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the QoS parameters are contained within a TrafficSpecification (TSPEC).

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the QPH is located within the sink device.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising, after configuring the network segment with the QoS parameters, signaling the QPH from the intermediate device with the status of the QoS configuration.

12. A method for configuring quality-of-service (QoS) in a local area network (LAN) having a plurality of devices including an audio-video (AV) media server for transmitting an AV traffic stream, an AV media renderer for receiving the AV traffic stream, and an intermediate device between the media server and media renderer through which the AV traffic stream passes, the intermediate device being connected to a network segment, the method comprising:

providing in one of the devices a QoS parameter holder (QPH);

signaling the media server and media renderer from the QPH with the QoS parameters;

detecting at the intermediate device a traffic stream identifier from the AV traffic stream;

querying the QPH from the intermediate device with the detected traffic stream identifier;

sending from the QPH to the intermediate device the QoS parameters associated with the traffic stream identifier;

receiving at the intermediate device the QoS parameters from the QPH; and

configuring the network segment with the QoS parameters received at the intermediate device.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the network is a wireless local area network (WLAN) and the network segment to which the intermediate device is connected is a powerline communications (PLC) network.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the network is a powerline communications (PLC) network and the network segment to which the intermediate device is connected is a wireless local area network (WLAN).

15. The method of claim 12 wherein each of the media server, intermediate device, and media renderer is a universal-plug-and-play (UPnP) device containing QoS Device Service.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the QPH is a UPnP QoS Manager (QM).

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the QoS parameters are contained within a TrafficSpecification (TSPEC).

18. The method of claim 12 wherein the QPH is located within the media renderer.

19. The method of claim 12 further comprising, after configuring the network segment with the QoS parameters, signaling the QPH from the intermediate device with the status of the QoS configuration.

20. A network having multiple network segments and a plurality of network devices including an audio-video (AV) media server for transmitting an AV traffic stream, an AV media renderer for receiving the AV traffic stream, and an intermediate device connected to one of the network segments and through which the AV traffic stream passes from the media server to the media renderer, one of said plurality of network devices having memory containing quality-of-service (QoS) parameters, the intermediate device having a processor and memory containing computer program instructions for performing the processor-implemented method steps of:

detecting a traffic stream identifier from the AV traffic stream;

querying the network device containing the QoS parameters with the detected traffic stream identifier;

receiving the QoS parameters from the network device containing the QoS parameters; and

configuring the network segment to which the intermediate device is connected with the received QoS parameters.

21. The network of claim 20 wherein the computer program instructions in the intermediate device'"'"'s memory include an instruction for signaling the network device containing the QoS parameters with the status of the QoS configuration.

22. The network of claim 20 wherein the network is a wireless local area network (WLAN) and the network segment to which the intermediate device is connected is a powerline communications (PLC) network.

23. The network of claim 20 wherein the network is a powerline communications (PLC) network and the network segment to which the intermediate device is connected is a wireless local area network (WLAN).

24. The network of claim 20 wherein the media server and media renderer each includes a processor and memory, and wherein each of the media server, intermediate device, and media renderer is a universal-plug-and-play (UPnP) device containing computer program instructions stored in its memory for executing UPnP QoS Device Service instructions, and wherein the QoS parameters are contained within a UPnP TrafficSpecification (TSPEC).