METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FLOW CONTROLLING

• US 20140068008A1
• Filed: 09/05/2012
• Published: 03/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Flash Networks, Ltd. (Constellation Software Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Flash Networks, Ltd. (Constellation Software Incorporated)
• Inventors: Gorokhovsky, Jenia, Tzhori, Meiron, Litichevsky, Arik
• Granted Patent: US 9,699,103 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/25 with rate being modified by the source upon detecting a change of network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/29 using a combination of thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/37 Slow start

Abstract

Content delivery to end user devices (EUD) is controlled by transmitting content portions at a controlled flow. The time for the EUD to process the data is used to control the flow. The first portion is transmitted to the EUD and the amount of time to process the first portion is noted. Threshold values to stop and start transmissions are examined prior to the transmission of each content portion. If the amount of data remaining to be processed by the EUD is below the stop transmission threshold, transmission continues with the next portion. If the amount of data remaining to be processed by the EUD is above the stop threshold, transmission is either stopped or retarded. When it is determined that the amount of data remaining to be processed by the EUD is above the start transmission threshold, transmission is started or continued.

Claims

1. A method employed by a server, for controlling the transfer of data to an end destination over a transmission channel, the method comprising the actions of:

determining a constraint that is involved in downloading the data to the end destination;

commencing transmission of a portion of the data to the end destination;

monitoring the current condition of the constraint;

if the current condition of the constraint increases above a first threshold value, retarding the delivery of more data, and accelerating the delivery of data if the current condition of the constraint declines below a second threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the action of retarding the delivery of more data comprises stopping further data transmissions.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the action of accelerating the delivery of data comprises resuming the transmission of data if it was stopped, or continuing the transmission of data if it was not stopped.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the action of setting a transmission state to one of at least two states, and the action of accelerating the delivery of data if the constraint declines below a second threshold is only performed if the transmission state is set to no transmit.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the action of setting a transmission state to one of at least two states, and the action of retarding the delivery of data if the constraint increases above a first threshold is only performed if the transmission state is set to transmit.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the data belongs to media file and the constraint represents the amount of time that the end destination is able to render the media file until receiving additional data.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the media is a video.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the data belongs to a software file and the constraint is the amount of bytes that are stored in a buffer at the end destination.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a constraint that is involved in downloading data to the end destination further comprising associating data of two or more files that are targeted toward the end destination and determining the constraint according to one of two or more files.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one of two or more files is a media file.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the end destination is a mobile device.

12. A method employed by a server, for controlling the transfer of content to an end user device over a transmission channel, the method comprising the actions of:

detecting the transmission of a content file destined for the end user device;

identifying segments within the content and a time required for the end user device to process each segment;

setting a transmission state to a first value;

commencing transmission of a first segment to the end user device at a rate based on the transmission state;

monitoring the time from the commencement of the transmission;

calculating a buffered amount of data existing at the end user device based on the monitored time and the time required to render the already transmitted first segment;

if the buffered amount of data increases above a first threshold value, setting the transmission state to a second value;

commencing transmission of a next segment to the end user device at a rate based on the transmission state.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second value indicates that no transmissions are to occur and the action of commencing transmission of the next segment at a rate based on the second transmission value comprises not transmitting any data.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the second transmission value indicates that the transmission rate is less than the transmission rate for the first threshold value and the action of commencing transmission of the next segment at a rate based on the transmission state set to the second value comprises transmitting the next segment at a lower transmission rate.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein if the buffered amount of data declines below a second threshold value, setting the transmission state to a third value and the action of commencing transmission of a next segment to the end user device at a rate based on the transmission state set to the third value comprises, selecting a transmission rate based at least in part on value higher than the second value.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein if the buffered amount of data declines below a second threshold value, setting the transmission state to a third value based on the buffered amount of data and the current state of the transmission channel, and the action of commencing transmission of a next segment to the end user device at a rate based on the transmission state set to the third value comprises, selecting a transmission rate based at least in part on the third value.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein if the buffered amount of data declines below a second threshold value, setting the transmission state to a third value based on the buffered amount of data, and the action of commencing transmission of a next segment to the end user device at a rate based on the transmission state set to the third value comprises, selecting a transmission rate based at least in part on the third value and a current state of the transmission channel.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the content belongs to a media file.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the media file is a video file.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the end user device is a mobile device

21. A device for controlling the transfer of content between a content source and an end user device over a transmission channel, the device comprising:

a memory element for storing data;

a processing element configured to;

detect the establishment of a session between the content source and the end user device;

detect the transmission of a content file from the content source to the end user device;

identify the time required for rendering portions of the content file by the end user device;

commence transmission of a portion of the content file to the end user device;

monitor the time from the commencement of the transmission;

calculate a buffered amount of data existing at the end user device based on the monitored time and the time required to render the transmitted data;

if the buffered amount of data is not below a first threshold value, retard the delivery of more data, and accelerate the delivery of data if the buffered amount of data is below the first threshold value and above a second threshold value.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein the processor is configured to retard the delivery of more data by stopping further data transmissions.

23. The device of claim 21, wherein the processor is configured to accelerate the delivery of data by resuming the transmission of data if it was stopped, or continuing the transmission of data if it was not stopped.

24. The device of claim 21, wherein the processor is configured to set a transmission state to one of at least two states, and the processor is configured to accelerate the delivery of data if the buffered amount of data is below the second threshold and the transmission state is set to a no transmit state.

25. The device of claim 21, wherein the processor is configured to set a transmission state to one of at least two states, and the processor is configured to retard the delivery of data if the buffered amount of data is not below the fist threshold and the transmission state is not set to a no transmit state.