Methods and apparatus for bandwidth recovery in a network

• US 20080320540A1
• Filed: 05/15/2008
• Published: 12/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Inventors: Brooks, Paul D., Gonder, Tom
• Granted Patent: US 8,281,352 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/118
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/147 for predicting network behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5051 Service on demand, e.g. definition and deployment of services in real time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5067 Customer-centric QoS measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/509 wherein the managed service relates to media content delivery, e.g. audio, video or TV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2385 Channel allocation H04N21/266 takes precedence; Bandwidth allocation H04N21/24 takes precedence ; allocation of channels according to the instantaneous demands of the users in time-division multiplex systems H04J3/1682; admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896; negotiating bandwidth in wireless networks H04W28/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2402 Monitoring of the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. bandwidth available traffic monitoring in data switching networks H04L43/00; monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25833 involving client hardware characteristics, e.g. manufacturer, processing or storage capabilities allocation of resources considering hardware capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5044; allocation of resources considering software capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5055

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for recovery and/or utilization of bandwidth within a network. In one embodiment, the network comprises a switched architecture (e.g., broadcast switched) content-delivery network such as a cable television network. Reclamation, overflow, and/or triage logical processes are selectively applied in order to more efficiently manage bandwidth utilization within the network while maintaining user experience, and optionally achieve one or more business and/or operational goals.

Claims

1. A method of operating a switched content delivery network having a plurality of subscribers, the method comprising providing at least one of said subscribers with an escalating level of impact on services provided to that at least one subscriber based at least in part on a severity associated with a bandwidth deficit of said network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said switched content delivery network comprises a broadcast switched architecture (BSA) network having a plurality of switches disposed at respective ones of switching hubs.

3. In a switched content delivery network, a method of operating said network comprising:

receiving a content delivery request from a client of said network;

determining that a reclamation of bandwidth is required, and substantially in response thereto, operating according to a bandwidth reclamation process;

when the request cannot be serviced within an existing server bandwidth allocation, operating according to an overflow process; and

when insufficient bandwidth is available to service the request implementing a triage process.

4. A network server comprising:

a processor;

a storage device operatively coupled to said processor; and

at least one computer program disposed on said storage device, said at least one computer program comprising a plurality of instructions which, when executed on said processor, perform the method comprising providing at least one of a plurality of subscribers of said network with an escalating level of impact on services provided to that at least one subscriber based at least in part on a severity associated with a bandwidth deficit of said network.

5. The server of claim 4, wherein said network comprise a broadcast switched content delivery network network having a plurality of switches disposed at respective ones of switching hubs, said server being adapted to control at least a portion of the operation of at least one of said switches.

6. The server of claim 5, further comprising a data interface, said interface being in data communication with a global session resource manager (GSRM) of said network.

7. The server of claim 5, wherein said escalating level of impact is substantially implemented through the use of three processes, said three processes comprising:

(i) a bandwidth reclamation process;

(ii) a bandwidth overflow request process; and

(iii) a triage process.

8. A method of managing bandwidth in a switched digital network, comprising:

undergoing a bandwidth taking or consumption event;

evaluating available bandwidth against one or more criteria;

identifying at least one aged stream;

evaluating at least one instance of fragmentation; and

evaluating said at least aged stream for grading.

9. A method of operating a switched digital broadcast network, the method comprising:

implementing a bandwidth reclamation process if a prescribed threshold of available bandwidth is crossed, said process comprising slating of at least one of a plurality of viewers issuing content delivery requests;

ensuring that sufficient bandwidth is recovered via said process to satisfy said viewer requests;

or

alternatively, if enough bandwidth is not available for reclamation via said process to satisfy said requests, using a stream teardown process without slating of any such stream that is torn down.