METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ALLOCATING UPSTREAM CHANNEL RESOURCE IN HYBRID FIBER COAXIAL NETWORK

• US 20090103557A1
• Filed: 08/27/2008
• Published: 04/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: HONG, Seung Eun, KWON, O Hyung, LEE, Soo In, KWON, Ho Jin
• Granted Patent: US 8,040,911 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/431
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2801 Broadband local area networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2861 Point-to-multipoint connection from the data network to the subscribers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2876 Handling of subscriber policies group policies management H04L41/0893

Abstract

A method and apparatus for allocating upstream channel resources in a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network are provided. A cable modem termination system (CMTS) previously provides cable modems (CMs) with a plurality of burst profiles through an extended interval usage code (IUC) of an upstream channel descriptor (UCD) message, and allocates resources to CMs by using an optimized burst profile according to an upstream channel status, thereby increasing transmission efficiency of an upstream channel.

Claims

1. A method of allocating upstream channel resources by using a cable modem termination system (CMTS) in a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network, the method comprising:

defining a plurality of burst profiles based on an upstream channel status;

transmitting the defined plurality of burst profiles to each of a plurality of cable modems (CMs);

monitoring the upstream channel status of each CM; and

allocating resources to each CM by using burst profiles corresponding to the upstream channel status from among the plurality of burst profiles.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the defining of the plurality of burst profiles comprises:

defining the plurality of burst profiles by the number of burst profiles determined according to a version of each CM and the number of burst profiles added according to specific conditions.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of burst profiles corresponds to one of interval usage code (IUC) values fixed in versions and extended IUC values determined in additional bits.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of burst profiles are transmitted to each CM via an upstream channel information message.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the defining of the plurality of burst profiles comprises:

establishing an optimized parameter value to a corresponding upstream channel status of each of the plurality of burst profiles.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the defining of the plurality of burst profiles comprises:

establishing a maximum burst size (MBS) in short burst profiles among the plurality of burst profiles so that each CM requesting resources in mini-slot units can calculate the number of mini-slots with regard to an amount of requested resources by using short burst profiles.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when each CM does not support all the defined plurality of burst profiles, defining burst profiles supported by each CM based on the upstream channel status, and allocating resources to each CM by using burst profiles corresponding to the upstream channel status.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein whether each CM supports burst profiles is determined from information included in an initial upstream message transmitted by each CM during an initial stage.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the upstream channel status is changed from a first upstream channel status to a second upstream channel status, changing a corresponding burst profile from the first upstream channel status to the second upstream channel status at a time when overlapping of the first upstream channel status and the second upstream channel status ends, and allocating resources to each CM.

10. A method of receiving upstream channel resources in a CM in a HFC network, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of burst profiles defined based on an upstream channel status from a CMTS;

informing the CMTS of whether the CM supports all the plurality of burst profiles;

transmitting a resource request message to the CMTS; and

receiving resources from the CMTS by using the plurality of burst profiles determined according to whether the CM supports all the plurality of burst profiles and defined based on the upstream channel status.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the number of the received plurality of burst profiles is the number of burst profiles determined according to a version of the CM and the number of burst profiles added according to specific conditions.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the transmitting of the resource request message comprises:

transmitting the resource request message by using short burst profiles when the CM requests resources in mini-slot units.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the informing of the CMTS of whether the CM supports all the plurality of burst profiles occurs via an initial upstream message during an initial stage.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein determining of whether the CM supports all the plurality of burst profiles comprises determining whether the CM supports additional extended IUC values and fixed IUC values in versions among IUC values corresponding to each of the plurality of burst profiles.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving of resources comprises:

when the CM supports all the received plurality of burst profiles, receiving resources by using burst profiles corresponding to the upstream channel status among the plurality of burst profiles; and

when the CM does not support all the received plurality of burst profiles, receiving resources by using burst profiles corresponding to the upstream channel status among burst profiles supported by the CM defined based on the upstream channel status.

16. An apparatus for allocating upstream channel resources in a HFC network, the apparatus comprising:

a burst profile establishing unit defining a plurality of burst profiles based on an upstream channel status, and transmitting the defined plurality of burst profiles to each of a plurality of CMs;

a monitoring unit monitoring the upstream channel status of each CM; and

a resource allocating unit allocating resources to each CM by using burst profiles corresponding to the upstream channel status from among the plurality of burst profiles.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the burst profile establishing unit defines the plurality of burst profiles by the number of burst profiles determined according to a version of each CM and the number of burst profiles added according to specific conditions.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein each of the plurality of burst profiles corresponds to one of IUC values fixed in versions and extended IUC values determined in additional bits.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the burst profile establishing unit establishes an optimized parameter value to a corresponding upstream channel status of each of the plurality of burst profiles.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the burst profile establishing unit establishes an MBS in short burst profiles from among the plurality of burst profiles so that each CM requesting resources by mini-slot units can calculate the number of mini-slots with regard to an amount of requested resources by using short burst profiles.

21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the resource allocating unit, when each CM does not support all the defined plurality of burst profiles, defines burst profiles supported by each CM based on the upstream channel status, and allocates resources to each CM by using burst profiles corresponding to the upstream channel status.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein whether each CM supports burst profiles is determined from information included in an initial upstream message transmitted by each CM during an initial stage.

23. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the resource allocating unit, when the upstream channel status is changed from a first upstream channel status to a second upstream channel status, changes a corresponding burst profile from the first upstream channel status to the second upstream channel status at a time when overlapping of the first upstream channel status and the second upstream channel status ends, and allocates resources to each CM.