SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DYNAMIC BANDWIDTH MANAGEMENT ON A PER SUBSCRIBER BASIS IN A COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

• US 20100020685A1
• Filed: 10/15/2009
• Published: 01/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nomadix, Inc. (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nomadix, Inc. (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Tooney, Daniel, Logan, Mark F., Short, Joel E., Delley, Frederic
• Granted Patent: US 7,698,432 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1403 Architecture for metering, charging or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1439 time-based
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0809 Plug-and-play configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration
• 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 41/5019 Ensuring fulfilment of SLA
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0894 Packet rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/15 in relation to multipoint traffic arrangements for broadcast or multicast in data networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/30 in combination with information about buffer occupancy at either end or at transit nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/32 by discarding or delaying data units, e.g. packets or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/765 triggered by the end-points
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/808 User-type aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/824 Applicable to portable or mobile terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0892 by using authentication-authorization-accounting [AAA] servers or protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 : based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 : User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 : in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 : Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 : Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

A subscriber bandwidth management process and device that allows users/subscribers in a communications network to dynamically alter bandwidth limits independently in both the uplink and downlink data transmission paths. This is accomplished by providing for a single queue in the uplink transmission path and a single queue in the downlink transmission path. Thus, the user/subscriber can efficiently manage their network access according to the specific activity on the network. The network manager benefits from being able structure bandwidth allocation on a per subscriber basis so that overall data transmission is made more efficient. In addition, the bandwidth manager provides active management of the delivery of data (also known as and referred to herein as traffic shaping) to increase throughput from a gateway device onto the network.

Claims

1. A system for allowing a user to dynamically control an amount of bandwidth available to the user, the system comprising:

a first network interface for communicating over a communication link with a user device during a network session;

a second network interface for communicating with one or more computer networks; and

a processor configured to receive a command initiated by the user device through the first network interface, the command indicating a second network communication bandwidth to be associated with the user device, the processor further configured to dynamically adjust a first network communication bandwidth associated with the user device during the network session and over the communication link substantially in real-time to the second network communication bandwidth without requiring reconfiguration of any component in the network.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to adjust a billing rate charged to the user according to the desired bandwidth.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first network interface and second network interface are comprised in the same communications device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises a gateway device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the network component comprises the user device.

6. A method of dynamically adjusting an amount bandwidth allocated to a user during a network session, the method comprising:

establishing a network session over a communication link between a network and a user device, the network session including a first bandwidth allocation;

receiving a command initiated by the user during the network session to change the first bandwidth allocation to a second bandwidth allocation specified by the user; and

adjusting the first bandwidth allocation to the second bandwidth allocation dynamically during the network session and over the communication link without reconfiguring any component in the network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein each of the first and second bandwidth allocations comprises an upstream and a downstream bandwidth and wherein the upstream and downstream bandwidth are individually specifiable by a user.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising adjusting a billing rate charged to the user based on the second bandwidth allocation specified by the user.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the method of dynamically adjusting an amount bandwidth is perfumed by a gateway device.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the network component comprises the user device.