METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DYNAMIC ASSIGNMENT OF QUALITY OF SERVICE PARAMETERS IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK

• US 20090059786A1
• Filed: 01/25/2008
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Budampati, Ramakrishna S., Kune, Denis Foo, Kolavennu, Soumitri N.
• Granted Patent: US 8,428,067 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/308 Route determination based on user's profile, e.g. premium users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/16 Central resource management; Negotiation of resources or communication parameters, e.g. negotiating bandwidth or QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/12 based on transmission quality or channel quality
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method includes identifying a condition associated with a communication network and/or an industrial control and automation system. The method also includes selecting, based on the identified condition, one or more quality of service (QoS) parameters used to route data through the communication network. In addition, the method includes communicating information identifying the one or more QoS parameters to one or more components in the communication network. The one or more QoS parameters could be contained within one of multiple QoS policies, and the method could include selecting one of the QoS policies. The condition could represent an emergency condition, and the one or more QoS parameters could include a higher QoS priority for traffic (such as voice communications and sensor data) to and from specified personnel (such as first responders). The communication network could represent at least one wired network and/or at least one wireless network.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying a condition associated with at least one of;

a communication network and an industrial control and automation system;

selecting, based on the identified condition, one or more quality of service parameters used to route data through the communication network; and

communicating information identifying the one or more quality of service parameters to one or more components in the communication network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more components in the communication network are operating according to a first quality of service policy;

selecting the one or more quality of service parameters comprises selecting a second quality of service policy; and

each quality of service policy identifies one or more quality of service parameters for each of multiple types of data messages.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

selecting the first quality of service policy; and

communicating information identifying the first quality of service policy over the communication network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

identifying the condition comprises identifying an emergency condition associated with the industrial control and automation system; and

selecting the one or more quality of service parameters comprises identifying a higher quality of service priority for traffic to and from specified personnel.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the specified personnel comprise at least one of;

police officers, firefighters, medical personnel, and hazardous material personnel; and

the traffic comprises at least one of;

voice traffic to and from the specified personnel and sensor data used by the personnel.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more quality of service parameters comprise at least one of:

a priority, an encryption mechanism, an authentication mechanism, a number of routes traversed through the communication network, a number of retries for sending data, and use of end-to-end acknowledgements.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a second condition associated with at least one of;

the communication network and the industrial control and automation system;

selecting, based on the identified second condition, one or more second quality of service parameters; and

communicating information identifying the one or more second quality of service parameters to the one or more components in the communication network.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the condition has been resolved;

selecting one or more second quality of service parameters associated with normal operation of the communication network; and

communicating information identifying the one or more second quality of service parameters to the one or more components in the communication network.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the communication network comprises a wireless network; and

the one or more components in the communication network comprise at least one of;

a gateway node coupled to a wired network, an infrastructure node communicating with the gateway node, and a leaf node communicating with the gateway node or the infrastructure node.

10. An apparatus comprising:

at least one interface configured to communicate with one or more components in a communication network; and

at least one controller configured to;

identify a condition associated with at least one of;

the communication network and an industrial control and automation system;

select, based on the identified condition, one or more quality of service parameters used to route data through the communication network; and

communicate information identifying the one or more quality of service parameters to the one or more components in the communication network using the at least one interface.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

the at least one controller is configured to select the one or more quality of service parameters by selecting one of multiple quality of service policies; and

each quality of service policy identifies one or more quality of service parameters for each of multiple types of data messages.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein:

the at least one controller is further configured to communicate the multiple quality of service policies to the one or more components in the communication network prior to the selection of the quality of service policy; and

the at least one controller is configured to communicate information identifying the selected quality of service policy to the one or more components in the communication network.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein:

the at least one controller is configured to identify an emergency condition associated with the industrial control and automation system; and

the at least one controller is configured to select the one or more quality of service parameters by identifying a higher quality of service priority for traffic to and from specified personnel.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein:

the specified personnel comprise at least one of;

police officers, firefighters, medical personnel, and hazardous material personnel; and

the traffic comprises at least one of;

voice traffic to and from the specified personnel and sensor data used by the personnel.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more quality of service parameters comprise at least one of:

a priority, an encryption mechanism, an authentication mechanism, a number of routes traversed through the communication network, a number of retries for sending data, and use of end-to-end acknowledgements.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one controller is further configured to:

identify a second condition associated with at least one of;

the communication network and the industrial control and automation system;

select, based on the identified second condition, one or more second quality of service parameters; and

communicate information identifying the one or more second quality of service parameters to the one or more components in the communication network.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one controller is further configured to:

determine that the condition has been resolved;

select one or more second quality of service parameters associated with normal operation of the communication network; and

communicate information identifying the one or more second quality of service parameters to the one or more components in the communication network.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one interface comprises one or more of:

a wired Ethernet network interface; and

a radio frequency transceiver.

19. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising computer readable program code for:

identifying a condition associated with at least one of;

a communication network and an industrial control and automation system;

selecting, based on the identified condition, one or more quality of service parameters used to route data through the communication network; and

communicating information identifying the one or more quality of service parameters to one or more components in the communication network.

20. The computer program of claim 19, wherein:

the computer readable program code for selecting the one or more quality of service parameters comprises computer readable program code for selecting one of multiple quality of service policies; and

each quality of service policy identifies one or more quality of service parameters for each of multiple types of data messages.