DATACASTING SYSTEM WITH AUTOMATIC DELIVERY OF SERVICE MANGEMENT CAPABILITY

• US 20090313383A1
• Filed: 05/06/2009
• Published: 12/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DIRECTV, LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Roundbox, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Liu, Xiaofeng, Leung, Yiu Man, Mataga, Peter Andrew, Slepchin, Igor
• Granted Patent: US 8,127,041 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1859 adapted to provide push services, e.g. data channels
• 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 41/5025 by proactively reacting to service quality change, e.g. by reconfiguration after service quality degradation or upgrade
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0882 Utilisation of link capacity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]

Abstract

A datacast system, and associated apparatus and method for automatically managing a data object or objects within a hierarchical carousel structure by enabling, among other functions, the dynamic allocation of bandwidth to each carousel within the structure. The dynamic bandwidth allocation enables a server platform to redistribute the bandwidth allocated to a carousel or set of data objects to adjust to desired changes in object transmission policies or priorities of a datacast application.

Claims

1. A method of operating a datacast platform for broadcasting a data object over a network to a client device, comprising:

allocating an initial datacast bandwidth for transmission of the object;

adjusting the datacast bandwidth allocated to one or more currently transmitted objects based at least in part on the available network bandwidth;

subsequently re-allocating the datacast bandwidth used for transmission of the object; and

in response to the re-allocation, adjusting the datacast bandwidth allocated to one or more currently transmitted objects based at least in part on the available network bandwidth.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the initial and subsequent datacast bandwidth allocated to the data object are based at least in part on a desired delivery quality of service parameter for the object.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a compound carousel for the data object, the compound carousel comprising a plurality of elementary carousels, each elementary carousel having an associated set of broadcast parameters that are independently configurable from those of the remaining elementary carousels;

placing the data object into a first elementary carousel of the plurality of elementary carousels; and

providing the data object to a transmitter for broadcast over the network in accordance with the set of broadcast parameters associated with the first elementary carousel.

4. A method of operating a datacast platform for broadcasting a data object over a network to a client device, comprising:

providing a compound carousel for the data object, the compound carousel comprising a plurality of elementary carousels, each elementary carousel having an associated set of broadcast parameters that are independently configurable from those of the remaining elementary carousels;

assigning an initial bandwidth value to the compound carousel, the initial bandwidth value representing the network bandwidth initially allocated for transmission of data objects contained in the compound carousel;

in response to the initial bandwidth value, determining a bandwidth allocated to each of the plurality of elementary carousels;

placing the data object into a first elementary carousel of the plurality of elementary carousels;

providing the data object to a transmitter for broadcast over the network in accordance with the set of broadcast parameters associated with the first elementary carousel;

moving the data object to a second elementary carousel of the plurality of elementary carousels; and

providing the data object to the transmitter for broadcast over the network in accordance with the set of broadcast parameters associated with the second elementary carousel.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising allocating a bandwidth value to each elementary carousel in use at a given time.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the bandwidth value allocated to the elementary carousels is based at least in part on a desired delivery quality of service parameter for the objects currently on the carousels.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

detecting a change in an operating parameter of the datacasting platform; and

in response to detecting the change in the operating parameter, reconfiguring the set of broadcast parameters associated with one or more of the elementary carousels.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the change in the operating parameter comprises one of receiving a new data object to be broadcast, removal of a data object from the compound carousel, expiration of the coverage time of a data object, completion of the reliable transmission of a data object, or a change in the available bandwidth for the compound carousel.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein reconfiguring the set of broadcast parameters associated with one or more of the elementary carousels further comprises changing the bandwidth allocated to the one or more of the elementary carousels.

10. A method of operating a datacast platform for broadcasting a data object over a network to a client device, comprising:

receiving the data object from an application;

determining a desired delivery quality of service for the data object;

inserting the data object into a compound carousel, the compound carousel comprising a plurality of elementary carousels, each of the plurality of elementary carousels having an associated set of broadcast parameters that are independently configurable from those of the remaining elementary carousels;

assigning a bandwidth value to the compound carousel, the bandwidth value representing the network bandwidth allocated for transmission of the data object contained the compound carousel;

in response to the bandwidth value and desired delivery quality of service, determining a bandwidth allocated to each of the plurality of elementary carousels;

detecting a change in an operating parameter of the datacast platform; and

in response to detecting the change in the operating parameter, automatically reallocating the bandwidth allocated to each of the plurality of elementary carousels, the reallocation being performed in a manner that substantially maintains the delivery quality of service for the data object.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising in response to detecting the change in the operating parameter, removing a data object from a first elementary carousel and placing the data object into a second elementary carousel.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the change in the operating parameter comprises one of receiving a new data object to be broadcast, removal of a data object from the compound carousel, expiration of the coverage time of a data object, completion of reliable transmission of a data object, or a change in the available bandwidth for the compound carousel.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the compound carousel includes a carousel configured as an update carousel.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the compound carousel includes a carousel configured for outage protection.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the compound carousel includes a carousel configured for support of legacy devices.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the compound carousel includes a root carousel configured for rapid update, a carousel configured for outage protection, and a base carousel configured for support of legacy devices.

17. A datacast platform for broadcasting a data object over a network to a client device, comprising:

a compound carousel data structure for the data object, the compound carousel comprising a plurality of elementary carousels, each elementary carousel having an associated set of broadcast parameters that are independently configurable from those of the remaining elementary carousels; and

a bandwidth manager configured to assign an initial bandwidth value to the compound carousel, the initial bandwidth value representing the network bandwidth initially allocated for transmission of data objects contained in the compound carousel.

18. The datacast platform of claim 17, wherein the bandwidth manager is further configured to determine a bandwidth allocated to each of the elementary carousels.

19. The datacast platform of claim 18, wherein the bandwidth manager determines the bandwidth allocated to each of the elementary carousels based at least in part on the initial bandwidth value and a desired delivery quality of service value for the data object.

20. The datacast platform of claim 19, wherein the bandwidth manager is further configured to automatically reallocate the bandwidth allocated to each of the plurality of elementary carousels in response to detecting a change in an operating parameter of the datacast platform, the reallocation being performed in a manner that substantially maintains the delivery quality of service for the data object.

21. The datacast platform of claim 20, wherein the change in the operating parameter comprises one of receiving a new data object to be broadcast, removal of a data object from the compound carousel, expiration of the coverage time of a data object, completion of reliable transmission of a data object, or a change in the available bandwidth for the compound carousel.

22. The datacast platform of claim 17, wherein the compound carousel data structure includes one or more of a carousel configured as an update carousel, a carousel configured for outage protection, or a carousel configured for support of legacy devices.

23. A datacast platform, comprising:

a processor configured to execute a set of instructions stored in a memory;

a memory configured to store the set of instructions; and

a set of instructions stored in the memory, which when executed by the processor implement a method to

receive a data object from an application;

determine a desired delivery quality of service for the data object;

insert the data object into a compound carousel, the compound carousel comprising a plurality of elementary carousels, each of the plurality of elementary carousels having an associated set of broadcast parameters that are independently configurable from those of the remaining elementary carousels;

assign a bandwidth value to the compound carousel, the bandwidth value representing the network bandwidth allocated for transmission of the data object contained the compound carousel;

in response to the bandwidth value and desired delivery quality of service, determine a bandwidth allocated to each of the plurality of elementary carousels;

detect a change in an operating parameter of the datacast platform; and

in response to detecting the change in the operating parameter, automatically reallocate the bandwidth allocated to each of the plurality of elementary carousels, the reallocation being performed in a manner that substantially maintains the delivery quality of service for the data object.

24. The datacast platform of claim 23, wherein the implemented method further comprises removing a data object from a first elementary carousel and placing the data object into a second elementary carousel in response to detecting the change in the operating parameter.

25. The datacast platform of claim 24, wherein the change in the operating parameter comprises one of receiving a new data object to be broadcast, removal of a data object from the compound carousel, expiration of the coverage time of a data object, completion of reliable transmission of a data object, or a change in the available bandwidth for the compound carousel.