METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING USAGE OF NETWORK RESOURCES IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK

• US 20170264449A1
• Filed: 03/23/2016
• Published: 09/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wipro Limited
• Original Assignee: Wipro Limited
• Inventors: SEETHARAMAN, Swaminathan, MADHAVAN, Ramesh
• Granted Patent: US 10,341,128 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/189 in combination with wireless systems selective distribution or broadcast in wireless communication networks H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/3065 for real time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/801 Real time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/83 based on usage prediction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1095 Inter-network session transfer or sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/101 based on network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1027 Persistence of sessions during load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/148 Migration or transfer of sessions

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method and system for optimizing usage of network resources in the communication network. In an embodiment, a session is initiated by a user with a plurality of media servers. The usage of the network resources is optimized by a routing server which monitors session characteristics of an on-going session, user characteristics, media server characteristics and network conditions, wherein the on-going session is hosted by a plurality of session handling media servers from the plurality of media servers in the communication network. The routing server further compares the monitored data with corresponding threshold values and identifies at least one media server which violates the pre-defined threshold. The routing server further identifies one or more alternate media servers based on the media server characteristics and transfer the connectivity of one or more users to the one or more alternate media servers without disconnecting the on-going session.

Claims

1. A method for optimizing usage of network resources in a communication network, the method comprising:

monitoring, by a routing server, session characteristics of an on-going session, user characteristics associated with a plurality of users involved in the on-going session, media server characteristics associated with a plurality of media servers, and network conditions of the communication network, wherein the on-going session is hosted by a plurality of session handling media servers from the plurality of media servers in the communication network;

comparing, by the routing server, the session characteristics, the user characteristics, the media server characteristics and the network conditions with corresponding set of pre-defined threshold values;

identifying, by the routing server, at least one media server from the plurality of the session handling media servers that violates the corresponding set of pre-defined threshold values based on the comparison, wherein the at least one identified media server of the plurality of session handling media servers is unable to host one or more users of the plurality of users connected to the identified at least one media server in the on-going session;

identifying, by the routing server, one or more alternate media servers from the plurality of media servers based on the media server characteristics associated with the plurality of media servers and the network conditions of the communication network; and

transferring, by the routing server, connectivity of the hosted one or more users to the one or more alternate media servers without disconnecting the on-going session to optimize the usage of the network resources.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the session characteristics of the on-going session comprises information about session setup procedures, one or more policies associated with the on-going session and type of the on-going session initiated.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user characteristics comprise a first value indicative of a number of the plurality of users in the on-going session, current location of the plurality of users, mobility of the plurality of users, speed and direction of movement of the plurality of users, policies related to the plurality of users, and a second value indicative of a number of users entering the on-going session, and a third value indicative of a number of users exiting the on-going session.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the media server characteristics comprises a fourth value indicative of a number of the plurality of session handling media servers used in the on-going session, information pertaining to system resources present in the plurality of media servers, a fifth value indicative of a number of users handled by the plurality of session handling media servers, a sixth value indicative of a number of the plurality of media servers, information pertaining to occupancy levels of resources on each of the plurality of media servers, inter media server distance, and information associated with the plurality of users handled by the plurality of session media servers.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the network conditions comprise policies corresponding to selection of the plurality of session handling media servers and a congestion level of different network segments in the communication network.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the comparison is performed upon identifying at least one of entry and exit of the one or more users in the on-going session, initiation and termination of mobility of the one or more users in the on-going session, changes in the media server characteristics, change in speed and direction of movement of the one or more users in the on-going session, and changes in policies related to one or more users from the plurality of users.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the identified one or more alternate media servers satisfy a pre-defined network path length and an optimal usage of network resources in the communication network.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising adapting the set of pre-defined threshold values based on average jitter identified from the on-going session and number of iterations required for identifying acceptable number of clusters comprising the plurality of users involved in the on-going session.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising sharing information of transmission delays and network conditions of each of the plurality of media servers with the routing server.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising buffering data packets of the on-going session and removing one or more jitters from the on-going session based on the shared information of transmission delay, an inter cluster distance and network conditions of the plurality of media servers.

11. A routing server for optimizing usage of network resources in a communication network, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores processor instructions, which, on execution, causes the processor to;

monitor session characteristics of an on-going session, user characteristics associated with a plurality of users involved in the on-going session, media server characteristics associated with a plurality of media servers and network conditions of the communication network, wherein the on-going session is hosted by a plurality of session handling media servers from the plurality of media servers in the communication network;

compare the session characteristics, the user characteristics, the media server characteristics and the network conditions with corresponding set of pre-defined threshold values;

identify at least one media server from the plurality of the session handling media servers that violates the corresponding set of pre-defined threshold values based on the comparison, wherein the at least one identified media server of the plurality of session handling media servers is unable to host one or more users of the plurality of users connected to the identified at least one media server in the on-going session;

identify one or more alternate media servers from the plurality of media servers based on the media server characteristics associated with the plurality of media servers and the network conditions of the communication network; and

transfer connectivity of the hosted one or more users to the one or more alternate media servers without disconnecting the on-going session to optimize the usage of the network resources.

12. The routing server as claimed in claim 11, wherein the session characteristics of the on-going session comprise information about session setup procedures, one or more policies associated with the on-going session and type of the on-going session initiated.

13. The routing server as claimed in claim 11, wherein the user characteristics comprise a first value indicative of a number of the plurality of users in the on-going session, current location of the plurality of users, mobility of the plurality of users, speed and direction of movement of the plurality of users, policies related to the plurality of users, and a second value indicative of a number of users entering the on-going session, and a third value indicative of a number of users exiting the on-going session.

14. The routing server as claimed in claim 11, wherein the media server characteristics comprises a fourth value indicative of a number of the plurality of session handling media servers used in the on-going session, information pertaining to system resources present in the plurality of media servers, a fifth value indicative of a number of users handled by the plurality of session handling media servers, a sixth value indicative of a number of the plurality of media servers, information pertaining to occupancy levels of resources on each of the plurality of media servers, inter media server distance, and information associated with the plurality of users handled by the plurality of session media servers.

15. The routing server as claimed in claim 11, wherein the network conditions comprise policies corresponding to selection of the plurality of session handling media servers and a congestion level of different network segments in the communication network.

16. The routing server as claimed in claim 11, wherein the processor performs the comparison upon identifying at least one of entry and exit of the one or more users in the on-going session, initiation and termination of mobility of the one or more users in the on-going session, changes in the media server characteristics, change in speed and direction of movement of the one or more users in the on-going session and changes in policies related to one or more users from the plurality of users.

17. The routing server as claimed in claim 11, wherein the identified one or more alternate media servers satisfy a pre-defined network path length and an optimal usage of network resources in the communication network.

18. The routing server as claimed in claim 11, wherein the processor further comprises adapting the set of pre-defined threshold values based on average jitter identified in the on-going session and number of iterations required for identifying acceptable number of clusters comprising the plurality of users involved in the on-going session, wherein the plurality of users in the number of clusters are within a pre-defined distance from centre of clusters.

19. The routing server as claimed in claim 11, wherein the processor transfers the connectivity of the hosted one or more users to the one or more alternate media servers based on the media server characteristics and network segment congestion level in the communication network.

20. The routing server as claimed in claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to share information of transmission delays and network conditions of each of the plurality of session handling media servers with each other.

21. The routing server as claimed in claim 20, wherein the processor further comprises buffering data packets of the on-going session and removing one or more jitters from the on-going session based on the shared information of transmission delay, an inter cluster distance between identified acceptable number of clusters and network conditions of the plurality of media servers.

22. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instruction stored thereon that when processed by at least one processor cause a routing server to perform operation comprising:

monitoring session characteristics of an on-going session, user characteristics associated with a plurality of users involved in the on-going session, media server characteristics associated with a plurality of media servers and network conditions of the communication network, wherein the on-going session is hosted by a plurality of session handling media servers from the plurality of media servers in the communication network;

comparing the session characteristics, the user characteristics, the media server characteristics and the network conditions with corresponding set of pre-defined threshold values;

identifying at least one media server from the plurality of the session handling media servers that violates the corresponding set of pre-defined threshold values based on the comparison, wherein the at least one identified media server of the plurality of session handling media servers is unable to host one or more users of the plurality of users connected to the identified at least one media server in the on-going session;

identifying one or more alternate media servers from the plurality of media servers based on the media server characteristics associated with the plurality of media servers and the network conditions of the communication network; and

transferring connectivity of the hosted one or more users to the one or more alternate media servers without disconnecting the on-going session to optimize the usage of the network resources.

23. A method for optimizing network resources using a plurality of media servers in a communication network, the method comprising:

receiving, by a routing server, a request by a user from a plurality of users to initiate a session involving the plurality of users;

monitoring, by the routing server, media server characteristics associated with the plurality of media servers, user characteristics associated with the plurality of users and network conditions of the communication network;

identifying, by the routing server, the plurality of media servers for handling the session involving the plurality of users based on the monitoring, wherein each of the plurality of media servers individually has insufficient resources to host the session involving the plurality of users; and

connecting, by the routing server, one or more users from the plurality of users to the identified plurality of media servers for hosting the session based on the monitoring.

24. The method as claimed in claim 23, wherein the media server characteristics comprises a number of the plurality of media servers present in the communication network, information pertaining to system resources present in the plurality of media servers, inter media server distance.

25. The method as claimed in claim 23, wherein the user characteristics comprises number of the plurality of users in the requested session, current location of the plurality of users, mobility of the plurality of users, speed and direction of movement of the plurality of users, policies related to the plurality of users.

26. The method as claimed in claim 23, wherein the network conditions comprise policies corresponding to selection of the plurality of media servers and a congestion level of different network segments in the communication network.

27. A routing server for optimizing network resources using a plurality of media servers in a communication network, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores processor instructions, which, on execution, causes the processor to;

receive a request by a user from a plurality of users to initiate a session involving the plurality of users;

monitor media server characteristics associated with the plurality of media servers, user characteristics associated with the plurality of users and network conditions of the communication network;

identify the plurality of media servers for handling the session involving the plurality of users based on the monitoring, wherein each of the plurality of media servers individually has insufficient resources to host the session involving the plurality of users; and

connect one or more users from the plurality of users to the identified plurality of media servers for hosting the session based on the monitoring.

28. The routing server as claimed in claim 27, wherein the media server characteristics comprises a number of the plurality of media servers present in the communication network, information pertaining to system resources present in the plurality of media servers, inter media server distance.

29. The routing server as claimed in claim 27, wherein the user characteristics comprises number of the plurality of users in the requested session, current location of the plurality of users, mobility of the plurality of users, speed and direction of movement of the plurality of users, policies related to the plurality of users.

30. The routing server as claimed in claim 27, wherein the network conditions comprise policies corresponding to selection of the plurality of media servers and a congestion level of different network segments in the communication network.

31. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instruction stored thereon that when processed by at least one processor cause a routing server to perform operation comprising:

receiving a request by a user from a plurality of users to initiate a session involving the plurality of users;

monitoring media server characteristics associated with the plurality of media servers, user characteristics associated with the plurality of users and network conditions of the communication network;

identifying the plurality of media servers for handling the session involving the plurality of users based on the monitoring, wherein each of the plurality of media servers individually has insufficient resources to host the session involving the plurality of users; and

connecting one or more users from the plurality of users to the identified plurality of media servers for hosting the session based on the monitoring.