Asynchronous transfer mode and media access protocol interoperability apparatus and method
First Claim
1. A method for use in providing interoperability between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol, a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC unit, the method comprising the steps of:
- determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues assigned to a particular one of one or more information appliances and its associated regulator;
comparing the amount of determined data to at least a first threshold value;
if the amount of determined data is less than said first threshold value, there is no congestion and said regulator associated with said particular information appliance is controlled to regulate transmission of ATM cells from said particular information appliance at a prescribed initial transmission rate;
when the amount of determined data is not less than said first threshold value, comparing the amount of determined data to a second threshold value to detennine the amount of congestion at the storage unit queue;
if the amount of determined data is not greater than said second threshold value, it is determined that there is some congestion, generating a control parameter;
transmitting said control parameter to a regulator associated with a prescribed information appliance for controlling said regulator associated with said prescribed to adjust an ATM cell transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance;
if the amount of determined data is greater than said second threshold value, it is determined that the congestion at the storage unit queue is too great and said regulator associated with said prescribed information appliance is controlled to inhibit transmission of ATM cells from said prescribed information appliance;
determining if said connection to said particular one of one or more information appliances is active; and
selecting a connection to a prescribed information appliance with descending priority level to which an explicit forward congestion notification (EFCN) parameter has not been transmitted.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A unique simple and generic ABR-MAC interoperability approach is employed which minimizes the impact of a Host Digital Terminal (HDT) ATM switch ABR connection on individual Information Appliances (IAs present at customer premises) and by employing a suitable MAC protocol to transfer data to an ATM network interface buffer (ATM-NI) located at the HDT. To this end, a unique arrangement is employed to regulate the buffer storage unit status in an ATM-NI. More specifically, the arrangement monitors upstream data traffic from active IA-HDT connections and, additionally, any incipient IA-HDT connections. This is realized by employing dual ATM-NI buffer storage unit threshold values that are selected depending on a particular ATM-NI buffer storage providing the particular information appliance on an active connection with information to allow the information appliance to adjust its transmission unit capacity, namely, a low, i.e., first, threshold value and a high, i.e., second, threshold value. In a particular embodiment, a predetermined parameter (k) is defined to specify a number of frames that have elapsed before a next upstream ATM cell is to be transmitted to the ATM-NI buffer storage unit at the HDT. If the amount of data stored in the ATM-NI buffer storage unit is less than the low threshold value, this implies a normal "uncongested" state of operation of the ATM-NI buffer storage unit. If the amount of data in the ATM-NI buffer storage unit is greater than the low threshold value but less than the high threshold value, regulation of the rate of data being supplied to the ATM-NI buffer storage unit must be performed. If the amount of data stored in the ATM-NI buffer storage unit is greater than the high threshold value, transmission of additional data to it is not allowed.
47 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method for use in providing interoperability between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol, a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC unit, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues assigned to a particular one of one or more information appliances and its associated regulator; comparing the amount of determined data to at least a first threshold value; if the amount of determined data is less than said first threshold value, there is no congestion and said regulator associated with said particular information appliance is controlled to regulate transmission of ATM cells from said particular information appliance at a prescribed initial transmission rate; when the amount of determined data is not less than said first threshold value, comparing the amount of determined data to a second threshold value to detennine the amount of congestion at the storage unit queue; if the amount of determined data is not greater than said second threshold value, it is determined that there is some congestion, generating a control parameter; transmitting said control parameter to a regulator associated with a prescribed information appliance for controlling said regulator associated with said prescribed to adjust an ATM cell transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance; if the amount of determined data is greater than said second threshold value, it is determined that the congestion at the storage unit queue is too great and said regulator associated with said prescribed information appliance is controlled to inhibit transmission of ATM cells from said prescribed information appliance; determining if said connection to said particular one of one or more information appliances is active; and selecting a connection to a prescribed information appliance with descending priority level to which an explicit forward congestion notification (EFCN) parameter has not been transmitted. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for use in providing interoperability between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol, a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC unit, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues assigned to a particular one of one or more information appliances and its associated regulator; comparing the amount of determined data to at least a first threshold value; if the amount of determined data is less than said first threshold value, there is no congestion and said regulator associated with said particular information appliance is controlled to regulate transmission of ATM cells from said particular information appliance at a prescribed initial transmission rate; when the amount of determined data is not less than said first threshold value, comparing the amount of determined data to a second threshold value to determine the amount of congestion at the storage unit queue; if the amount of determined data is not greater than said second threshold value, it is determined that there is some congestion, generating a control parameter; transmitting said control parameter to a regulator associated with a prescribed information appliance for controlling said regulator associated with said prescribed to adjust an ATM cell transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance; if the amount of determined data is greater than said second threshold value, it is determined that the congestion at the storage unit queue is too great, and said regulator associated with said prescribed information appliance is controlled to inhibit transmission of ATM cells from said prescribed information appliance; selecting a connection with a descending priority level; and transmitting an indication to a prescribed information appliance connected by said selected connection thereby causing said prescribed information appliance connected by said selected connection to inhibit transmission of ATM cells.
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5. A method for use in providing interoperability between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol, a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC unit the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues assigned to a particular one of one or more information appliances and its associated regulator; comparing the amount of determined data to at least a first threshold value; if the amount of determined data is less than said first threshold value, there is no congestion and said regulator associated with said particular information appliance is controlled to regulate transmission of ATM cells from said particular information appliance at a prescribed initial transmission rate; when the amount of determined data is not less than said first threshold value, comparing the amount of determined data to a second threshold value to determine the amount of congestion at the storage unit queue; if the amount of determined data is not greater than said second threshold value, it is determined that there is some congestion, generating a control parameter; transmitting said control parameter to a regulator associated with a prescribed information appliance for controlling said regulator associated with said prescribed to adjust an ATM cell transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance;
if the amount of determined data is greater than said second threshold value, it is determined that the congestion at the storage unit queue is too great, and said regulator associated with said prescribed information appliance is controlled to inhibit transmission of ATM cells from said prescribed information appliance;if said determined amount of data is greater than the second threshold value, further including the steps of determining if said connection to said particular one of one or more information appliances is active, and if said connection to said particular one of one or more information appliances is not active, selecting a connection to a prescribed information appliance in accordance with a descending priority level. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for use in providing interoperability between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol, a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC unit, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues assigned to a particular one of one or more information appliances and its associated regulator; comparing the amount of determined data to at least a first threshold value; if the amount of determined data is less than said first threshold value, there is no congestion and said regulator associated with said particular information appliance is controlled to regulate transmission of ATM cells from said particular information appliance at a prescribed initial transmission rate; when the amount of determined data is not less than said first threshold value, comparing the amount of determined data to a second threshold value to determine the amount of congestion at the storage unit queue; if the amount of determined data is not greater than said second threshold value, it is determined that there is some congestion, generating a control parameter; transmitting said control parameter to a regulator associated with a prescribed information appliance for controlling said regulator associated with said prescribed to adjust an ATM cell transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance; if the amount of determined data is greater than said second threshold value, it is determined that the congestion at the storage unit queue is too great, and said regulator associated with said prescribed information appliance is controlled to inhibit transmission of ATM cells from said prescribed information appliance; wherein said control parameter specifies a number of frames to elapse before a next ATM cell is to be transmitted from said prescribed information appliance. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A method for use in providing interoperability between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol, a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC units, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues associated with a particular one of one or more information appliances; comparing the amount of determined data to a first threshold value; if the amount of determined data is less than said first threshold value, there is no congestion and said regulator associated with said particular information appliance is controlled to regulate transmission of ATM cells from said particular information appliance at a prescribed initial transmission rate; when the amount of determined data is not less than said first threshold value, comparing the amount of determined data to a second threshold value to determine if the amount of data is greater than the second threshold value; if the amount of determined data is not greater than the second threshold value, providing a prescribed information appliance on an active connection with information to allow said prescribed information appliance to adjust its transmission rate in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance; if the determined amount of data is greater than the second threshold value, providing said prescribed information appliance on an active connection with information to allow said prescribed information appliance to inhibit transmission of data; determining if said connection to said particular one of one or more information appliances is active; and selecting a connection with descending priority level to which an explicit forward congestion notification (EFCN) parameter has not been transmitted. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A method for use in providing interoperability between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol, a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC units, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues associated with a particular one of one or more information appliances; comparing the amount of determined data to a first threshold value; if the amount of determined data is less than said first threshold value, there is no congestion and said regulator associated with said particular information appliance is controlled to regulate transmission of ATM cells from said particular information appliance at a prescribed initial transmission rate; when the amount of determined data is not less than said first threshold value, comparing the amount of determined data to a second threshold value to determine if the amount of data is greater than the second threshold value; if the amount of determined data is not greater than the second threshold value, providing a prescribed information appliance on an active connection with information to allow said prescribed information appliance to adjust its transmission rate in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance; if the determined amount of data is greater than the second threshold value, providing said prescribed information appliance on an active connection with information to allow said prescribed information appliance to inhibit transmission of data; wherein the step of providing includes the steps of selecting a connection with a descending priority level, and transmitting to said prescribed information appliance connected by said selected connection information to cause said particular information appliance to inhibit transmission of ATM cells.
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17. A method for use in providing interoperability between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol, a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC units, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues associated with a particular one of one or more information appliances; comparing the amount of determined data to a first threshold value; if the amount of determined data is less than said first threshold value, there is no congestion and said regulator associated with said particular information appliance is controlled to regulate transmission of ATM cells from said particular information appliance at a prescribed initial transmission rate; when the amount of determined data is not less than said first threshold value, comparing the amount of determined data to a second threshold value to determine if the amount of data is greater than the second threshold value; if the amount of determined data is not greater than the second threshold value, providing a prescribed information appliance on an active connection with information to allow said prescribed information appliance to adjust its transmission rate in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance; if the determined amount of data is greater than the second threshold value, providing said prescribed information appliance on an active connection with information to allow said prescribed information appliance to inhibit transmission of data; if said determined amount of data is greater than the second threshold value, further including the steps of determining if said connection to said particular information appliance is active, and if said connection is not active, selecting a connection with a descending priority level. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for use in providing interoperabilily between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol, a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC units, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues associated with a particular one of one or more information appliances; comparing the amount of determined data to a first threshold value; if the amount of determined data is less than said first threshold value, there is no congestion and said regulator associated with said particular information appliance is controlled to regulate transmission of ATM cells from said particular information appliance at a prescribed initial transmission rate; when the amount of determined data is not less than said first threshold value, comparing the amount of determined data to a second threshold value to determine if the amount of data is greater than the second threshold value; if the amount of determined data is not greater than the second threshold value, providing a prescribed information appliance on an active connection with information to allow said prescribed information appliance to adjust its transmission rate in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance; if the determined amount of data is greater than the second threshold value, providing said prescribed information appliance on an active connection with information to allow said prescribed information appliance to inhibit transmission of data; wherein said step of providing includes the step of generating a control parameter for controlling transmission of ATM cells from said prescribed information appliance, said control parameter specifying a number of frames to elapse before a next ATM cell is to be transmitted from said prescribed information appliance. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. Apparatus for use in providing interoperability between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC units, the apparatus comprising the steps of:
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means for determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues assigned to a particular one of one or more information appliances and its associated regulator; means for comparing the amount of determined data to at least a first threshold value and a second threshold value; means for generating a transmission control parameter to be supplied to a prescribed information appliance to control the transmission rate of ATM cells for said prescribed information appliance; means responsive to the amount of determined data being less than said first threshold value for setting said control parameter at a prescribed initial transmission rate; means responsive to the amount of determined data being not less than said first threshold value and not greater than said second threshold value for generating a value of said control parameter in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance; means responsive to the amount of determined data being greater than said second threshold value for generating an indication to be transmitted to said prescribed information appliance to inhibit transmission of ATM cells from said prescribed information appliance; means for determining if said connection to said particular one of one or more information appliances is active; and means for selecting a connection with descending priority level to which an explicit forward congestion notification (EFCN) parameter has not been transmitted. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. Apparatus for use in providing interoperability between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol, a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC units, the apparatus comprising the steps of:
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means for determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues assigned to a particular one of one or more information appliances and its associated regulator; means for comparing the amount of determined data to at least a first threshold value and a second threshold value; means for generating a transmission control parameter to be supplied to a prescribed information appliance to control the transmission rate of ATM cells for said prescribed information appliance; means responsive to the amount of determined data being less than said first threshold value for setting said control parameter at a prescribed initial transmission rate; means responsive to the amount of determined data being not less than said first threshold value and not greater than said second threshold value for generating a value of said control parameter in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance; means responsive to the amount of determined data being greater than said second threshold value for generating an indication to be transmitted to said prescribed information appliance to inhibit transmission of ATM cells from said prescribed information appliance; means for selecting a connection with a descending priority level and means for transmitting an indication to said prescribed information appliance connected by said selected connection causing said prescribed information appliance to inhibit transmission of ATM cells.
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29. Apparatus for use in providing interoperability between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol, a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC units, the apparatus comprising the steps of:
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means for determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues assigned to a particular one of one or more information appliances and its associated regulator; means for comparing the amount of determined data to at least a first threshold value and a second threshold value; means for generating a transmission control parameter to be supplied to a prescribed information appliance to control the transmission rate of ATM cells for said prescribed information appliance; means responsive to the amount of determined data being less than said first threshold value for setting said control parameter at a prescribed initial transmission rate; means responsive to the amount of determined data being not less than said first threshold value and not greater than said second threshold value for generating a value of said control parameter in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance; means responsive to the amount of determined data being greater than said second threshold value for generating an indication to be transmitted to said prescribed information appliance to inhibit transmission of ATM cells from said prescribed information appliance; means responsive to said determined amount of data being greater than the second threshold value for determining if said connection to said particular information appliance is active; and
means responsive to said connection to said particular information appliance being not active for selecting a connection with a descending priority level. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. Apparatus for use in providing interoperability between Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Available Bit Rate (ABR) transport and Media Access Control (MAC) unit protocol, a storage unit having queues being associated with the MAC units, the apparatus comprising the steps of:
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means for determining an amount of data in at least one of the queues assigned to a particular one of one or more information appliances and its associated regulator; means for comparing the amount of determined data to at least a first threshold value and a second threshold value; means for generating a transmission control parameter to be supplied to a prescribed information appliance to control the transmission rate of ATM cells for said prescribed information appliance; means responsive to the amount of determined data being less than said first threshold value for setting said control parameter at a prescribed initial transmission rate; means responsive to the amount of determined data being not less than said first threshold value and not greater than said second threshold value for generating a value of said control parameter in accordance with prescribed criteria based on a delay interval between a last prior update and a current update in said transmission rate from said prescribed information appliance; means responsive to the amount of determined data being greater than said second threshold value for generating an indication to be transmitted to said prescribed information appliance to inhibit transmission of ATM cells from said prescribed information appliance; wherein said control parameter specifies a number of frames to elapse before a next ATM cell is to be transmitted from said prescribed information appliance. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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Specification