Feedback management in a multipath communication network

• US 20160134519A1
• Filed: 11/05/2015
• Published: 05/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: OUEDRAOGO, NAL, MAZE, FRDRIC
• Granted Patent: US 10,419,332 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/124 using a combination of metrics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/24 Multipath
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/65 Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]

Abstract

A method of managing feedback messages in a multipath communication network, the method comprising selecting at least one communication path out of a set of communication paths between a first communication device and a second communication device in order to transmit at least one feedback message from the first communication device to the second communication device. The selecting is based on a correlation between at least one transmission condition on said at least one communication path and at least one transmission constraint for said at least one feedback message.

Embodiments make it possible to provide optimal transmission of feedback messages in a multipath context.

Claims

1. A method of managing feedback messages in a multipath communication network utilised to transmit, between a first communication device and a second communication device, a data stream in real time by using a set of communication paths comprising plural communication paths associated with the data stream,

the method comprising selecting at least one communication path out of the set of communication paths between the first communication device and the second communication device in order to transmit at least one feedback message from the first communication device to the second communication device and

wherein said selecting is based on at least one transmission condition on the at least one communication path and at least one transmission constraint for the at least one feedback message.

2. The method according to claim 1, comprising selecting a plurality of communication paths of the set of communication paths in order to transmit, in synchronization, a plurality of feedback messages from the first communication device to the second communication device over the plurality of communication paths respectively.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one transmission constraint depends on at least one of:

a characteristic of the at least one feedback message to transmit,

a characteristic representing a function of respective characteristics of a plurality of feedback messages embedded within a same data packet, the at least one feedback message to transmit being embedded within the same data packet.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the characteristic relates to at least one of:

a type of feedback message,

a size of feedback message,

a timing constraint for transmitting a feedback message, and

a priority level of a feedback message.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one transmission condition relates to at least one of:

a bandwidth of the communication path for transmitting the at least one feedback message,

a quality of transmission on the communication path,

a time of transmission for transmitting the at least one feedback message over the communication path,

a round-trip time over the communication path, and

a loss rate over the communication path.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one feedback message comprises at least one of:

a network transmission monitoring message,

an error transmission correction message, and

a codec control message.

7. The method according to claim 1, comprising calculating a correlation between the at least one transmission condition on the at least one communication path and the at least one transmission constraint for the at least one feedback message, the correlation being represented at least by a score, the at least one communication path being selected when the value of the score is above a threshold.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the score is based at least one of the following components:

a bandwidth component representing the correlation between the bandwidth of the at least one communication path and timing constraints of the at least one feedback message,

a reliability component representing the correlation between a priority level of the at least one feedback message and a reliability of the at least one communication path for transmitting the at least one feedback message, and

an affinity component representing a level of association between the a content of the at least one feedback message and the at least one communication path.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the correlation is determined at least according to a decision tree comprising a set of conditions to be tested according to an order of the set of conditions for characterising the correlation, the at least one communication path being selected when at least one condition of the set of conditions is fulfilled, the at least one condition of the set of conditions relates to:

a bandwidth condition characterizing the correlation between the bandwidth of the at least one communication path and timing constraints of the at least one feedback message,

a reliability condition characterizing the correlation between a priority level of the at least one feedback message and a reliability of the at least one communication path for transmitting the at least one feedback message, and

an affinity condition characterizing a level of association between the a content of the at least one feedback message and the at least one communication path.

10. The method according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of feedback massages comprise:

a global feedback message dedicated to the communication session in which the set of communication paths are established, and

specific feedback messages respectively dedicated to a communication path of the set of communication paths.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program that causes a computer to function as each step of the method according to claim 1.

11. A device for managing feedback messages in a multipath communication network utilised to transmit, between a first communication device and a second communication device, a data stream in real time by using a set of communication paths comprising plural communication paths associated with the data stream,

the device comprising a processing unit configured to select at least one communication path out of the set of communication paths between the first communication device and the second communication device in order to transmit at least one feedback message from the first communication device to the second communication device and

wherein the selecting is based on at least one transmission condition on the at least one communication path and at least one transmission constraint for the at least one feedback message.

12. The device according to claim 11, the processing unit being further configured to select a plurality of communication paths of the set of communication paths in order to transmit, in synchronization, a plurality of feedback messages from the first communication device to the second communication device over the plurality of communication paths respectively.

13. The device according to claim 11, wherein the at least one transmission constraint depends on at least one of:

a characteristic of the at least one feedback message to transmit,

a characteristic representing a function of respective characteristics of a plurality of feedback messages embedded within a same data packet, the at least one feedback message to transmit being embedded within the same data packet.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein the characteristic relates to at least one of:

a type of feedback message,

a size of feedback message,

a timing constraint for transmitting a feedback message, and

a priority level of a feedback message.

15. The device according to claim 11, wherein the at least one transmission condition relates to at least one of:

a bandwidth of the communication path for transmitting the at least one feedback message,

a quality of transmission on the communication path,

a time of transmission for transmitting the at least one feedback message over the communication path,

a round-trip time over the communication path, and

a loss rate over the communication path.

16. The device according to claim 11, wherein the at least one feedback message comprises at least one of:

a network transmission monitoring message,

an error transmission correction message, and

a codec control message.

17. The device according to claim 11, the processing unit being further configured to calculate a correlation between the at least one transmission condition on the at least one communication path and the at least one transmission constraint for the at least one feedback message, the correlation being represented at least by a score, the at least one communication path being selected when the value of the score is above a threshold.

18. The device according to claim 17, wherein the score is based at least one of the following components:

a bandwidth component representing the correlation between the bandwidth of the at least one communication path and timing constraints of the at least one feedback message,

a reliability component representing the correlation between a priority level of the at least one feedback message and a reliability of the at least one communication path for transmitting the at least one feedback message, and

an affinity component representing a level of association between the a content of the at least one feedback message and the at least one communication path.

19. The device according to claim 11, wherein the correlation is determined at least according to a decision tree comprising a set of conditions to be tested according to an order of the set of conditions for characterising the correlation, the at least one communication path being selected when at least one condition of the set of conditions is fulfilled, the at least one condition of the set of conditions relates to:

a bandwidth condition characterizing the correlation between the bandwidth of the at least one communication path and timing constraints of the at least one feedback message,

a reliability condition characterizing the correlation between a priority level of the at least one feedback message and a reliability of the at least one communication path for transmitting the at least one feedback message, and

an affinity condition characterizing a level of association between the a content of the at least one feedback message and the at least one communication path.

20. The device according to claim 12, wherein the plurality of feedback massages comprise:

a global feedback message dedicated to the communication session in which the set of communication paths are established, and

specific feedback messages respectively dedicated to a communication path of the set of communication paths.