Process and device for allocating resources in a packet transmission digital network

• US 6,243,358 B1
• Filed: 02/04/1998
• Issued: 06/05/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hanger Solutions, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Orange S.A.
• Inventors: Monin, Wei
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Wellington
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, STEVEN H D
• Application Number:
  US09/018,537
• Time in Patent Office: 1,217 Days
• Field of Search: 370/229-236, 370/468, 370/428, 370/429, 370/411, 370/412-419, 370/252-253, 709/223-229
• US Class Current: 370/229
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5602 Bandwidth control in ATM Networks, e.g. leaky bucket
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5619 Network Node Interface, e.g. tandem connections, transit switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/563 Signalling, e.g. protocols, reference model
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5632 Bandwidth allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0478 Provisions for broadband connections

Abstract

In a packet data transmission digital network, a data receiver node dispatches to an adjacent data sender node packets of credits containing information about its capacity to receive data packets; the sender dispatches the data packets which it needs to transmit so long as it has sufficient credits; when its credits are exhausted, it continues to dispatch, in advance, the waiting data packets and preserves each data packet sent in advance until reception thereof is confirmed by the arrival of specific packets originating from the receiver; the receiver dispatches to the sender information indicating the lost data packets; the sender retransmits the data packets whose loss has been signalled by the receiver and destroys the data packets which were sent in advance and preceding the lost data packets.

Claims

1. A method for allocating resources in a packet data transmission digital network, between a data sender node and an adjacent data receiver node which resends in the downstream direction, in which:

(a) the receiver node dispatches to the sender node packets of credit containing information about the capacity of the receiver node to receive data packets originating from said sender node;

(b) the sender node dispatches the data packets which are to be transmitted so long as it has sufficient credits;

said method further including;

(c) continuing to dispatch in advance at said sender node the waiting data packets which are to be transmitted when said credits are exhausted and preserving each data packet sent in advance until reception thereof is confirmed by the arrival of specific packets originating from said receiver node;

(d) dispatching from said receive node to said sender node information indicating the lost data packets;

(e) retransmitting from said sender node the data packets whose loss has been signalled by said receiver node and destroying the data packets which were sent in advance and preceding the lost data packets.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data packets sent bear a sequence number and the packets of credits contain the highest one of said sequence numbers of said data packets which the receiver is ready to receive.

3. The method according to claim 2, in which the sender node processes several queues respectively associated with several network propagation channels and in which the data packets are sent in the order of their sequence number, wherein

the sender node first transmits data packets originating from those of the queues for which the sequence number contained in the last packet of credits received originating from the receiver is strictly greater than the number of the last data packet dispatched, and

the sender node then transmits, in advance, data packets originating from those of the queues for which sending in advance is authorized, for which the sequence number contained in the last packet of credits received originating from the receiver node is less than or equal to the number of the last data packet dispatched and for which the difference between the two sequence numbers is smallest, the sender node preserving the data packets transmitted in advance.

4. The method according to claim 2, in which the receiver node possesses several queues associated with several network propagation channels, wherein upon the arrival of a data packet with sequence number m which cannot be admitted at the receiver, through lack of space in the corresponding queue, while the preceding data packet in respect of this queue has been admitted, the receiver node dispatches to the sender node a rejection detection packet which includes the sequence number m and systematically rejects all the succeeding data packets, until the arrival, by retransmission, of a fresh version of that data packet whose sequence number is m.

5. The method according to claim 3, further including destroying at said sender node all the data packets, necessarily sent in advance and whose sequence number is less than or equal to the sequence number indicated in the packet of credits when said sender node receives a packet of credits originating from said receiver node.

6. The method according to claim 4, further including destroying at said sender node all the data packets necessarily sent in advance and whose sequence number is less than the sequence number indicated in the rejection data packet when said sender node receives a rejection detection packet originating from said receiver node.

7. The method according to claim 4, further including disabling at said sender node the sending in advance of data packets in respect of the relevant propagation channel, until the arrival of a packet of credits which includes a sequence number greater than or equal to the sequence number of the first data packet still waiting to be resent or transmitted next over this propagation channel when said sender node receives a rejection detection packet originating from said receiver node.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the receiver node dispatches a packet of credits to the sender node as soon as one or the other of the following events occurs:

(i) the number of data packets which have departed heading downstream since the sending of the last packet of credits to the sender node is equal to a predetermined number;

(ii) a predetermined duration of non-sending of packets of credits has elapsed since the sending of the last packet of credits to the sender node.

9. A device for allocating resources in a packet data transmission digital network, comprising:

a data receiver node which includes

a predetermined number n of input buffers, respectively associated with n virtual channels which correspond to several sources for sending data in the network,

means for monitoring the fill level of said input buffers, said means being connected to each of the buffers, and

sending means connected to said monitoring means, said sending means being adapted for constructing packets of credits and rejection detection packets containing information about the capacity of the receiver node to receive data packets;

a data sender node which includes

n input buffers respectively associated with said n virtual channels,

memory means for storing the values of said credits, said values being updated upon receipt of a packet of credits originating from the receiver node and upon the sending of a data packet to the receiver node,

management means, connected to said memory means, said management means further including output multiplexing means and a plurality of registers respectively associated with said n virtual channels, each register of said plurality of registers containing a sequence number of the next data packet to be transmitted over the respective virtual channel, said management means being programmed and thus adapted so as to control the transmission to said receiver node as a function of said values of credits with said packet data transmission occurring possibly in advance, to control, when a rejection detection packet is received originating from said receiver node, the deletion from the input buffer of the relevant virtual channel of those data packets whose sequence number is less than the number indicated in said rejection detection packet and the prohibiting over said relevant virtual channel of the transmission in advance, and to control when a packet of credits is received the deletion from the buffer of the relevant virtual channel of those data packets, necessarily sent in advance, whose sequence number is less than or equal to the number indicated in said packet of credits and the possible reactivation of the sending in advance if the latter was prohibited; and

a transmission link joining said sender node to said receiver node and over which are sent, on the one hand, data packets from said sender node to said receiver node, and, on the other hand, packets of credits and rejection detection packets from said receiver node to said sender node.