Communications systems with quality of service parameters

• US 6,278,693 B1
• Filed: 03/24/1997
• Issued: 08/21/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Mitchell, Harry David, Lambert, Howard Shelton, Renshaw, David Seager, Aldred, Barry Keith
• Primary Examiner(s): ZIMMERMAN, BRIAN A
• Application Number:
  US08/823,400
• Time in Patent Office: 1,611 Days
• Field of Search: 370/238, 370/252, 370/230, 370/232, 370/396, 370/410, 370/253
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5602 Bandwidth control in ATM Networks, e.g. leaky bucket
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/563 Signalling, e.g. protocols, reference model
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5632 Bandwidth allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0478 Provisions for broadband connections

Abstract

A communications system may be used for transmitting and/or receiving data over a network. The communications system includes means responsive to requests for a desired quality of service specifying at least two quality of service parameters, such as bandwidth, latency, error rate, and so on, for determining whether or not the requested quality of service is available. The quality of service requests specify the desired quality of service in terms of logical expressions involving two or more of said at least two quality of service parameters. This allows, for example, a desired quality of service to accept a higher error rate if the available bandwidth is higher. In the preferred embodiment, each quality of service parameter is specified in terms of a range between minimum and a maximum acceptable values.

Claims

1. A communications system for transmitting and/or receiving data over a network, said communications system including means responsive to requests for a desired quality of service specifying at least two quality of service parameters, for determining whether or not the requested quality of service is available, characterised in that said determining means is responsive to quality of service requests specifying the desired quality of service as a logical expression involving two or more of said at least two quality of service parameters, wherein the value of at least one of the parameters is made dependent on the value of at least one other of the parameters by the logical expression.

2. The communications system of claim 1, wherein said quality of service requests are received from applications intending to initiate data communications over said network.

3. The communications system of claim 1 or 2, wherein said determining means comprises means for comparing the requested quality of service parameters to facilities provided by the communications link(s) available to the communications system.

4. The communications system of claim 3, wherein the available communications facilities for each communication link are specified in terms of available quality of service parameters.

5. The communications system of claim 1 or 2, wherein a specification of a desired quality of service is written in a pseudo-computer language, which is compiled by said determining means.

6. The communications system of claim 4, wherein a specification of an available quality of service is written in a pseudo-computer language, which is compiled by said determining means.

7. The communications system of claim 1, wherein one or more requested quality of service parameter is represented as a pair of values corresponding to the minimum and maximum of the desired range for those parameters.

8. The communications system of claim 7, wherein said determining means comprises comparing means for ascertaining whether the facilities provided by the communications link(s) available to the communications system lie within the range for each desired parameter.

9. The communications system of claim 8, wherein, in the event that said desired quality of service can be satisfied by the available quality of service, said comparing means produces an agreed range for each quality of service parameter.

10. The communications system of claim 9, further including means for monitoring communications to ensure that they conform to the agreed range for each quality of service parameter.

11. The communications system of claim 1, wherein said determining means further comprises means, responsive to a quality of service request which relates to a route that spans more than one communications system in said network, for communicating with said more than one communications systems, in order to obtain an overall determination of whether the quality of service request can be satisfied.

12. A method for processing requests for a desired quality of service in a communications system for transmitting and/or receiving data over a network, including the steps of receiving desired quality of service requests specifying at least two quality of service parameters, and determining whether or not the requested quality of service is available, characterised in that said determining step is responsive to quality of service requests specifying the desired quality of service as a logical expression involving two or more of said at least two quality of service parameters, wherein the value of at least one of the parameters is made dependent on the value of at least one other of the parameters by the logical expression.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said quality of service requests are received from applications intending to initiate data communications over said network.

14. The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein said determining step comprises comparing the requested quality of service parameters to facilities provided by the communications link(s) available to the communications system.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the available communications facilities for each communication link are specified in terms of available quality of service parameters.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein a specification of a desired quality of service is written in a pseudo-computer language, and said determining step further includes the step of compiling said specifications in said pseudo-computer language.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein a specification of an available quality of service is written in a pseudo-computer language, and said determining step further includes the step of compiling said specifications in said computer-language.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein a specification of a desired quality of service is written in a pseudo-computer language, and said determining step further includes the step of compiling said specifications in said pseudo-computer language, and further wherein the compiled quality of service specifications are interpreted to determine whether or not there is a match between the specifications of the desired and available quality of service.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein each requested quality of service parameter is represented as a pair of values corresponding to the minimum and maximum of the desired range for that parameter.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said step of determining includes ascertaining whether the facilities provided by the communications link(s) available to the communications system lie within the desired range for each parameter.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, in the event that said desired quality of service can be satisfied by the available quality of service, said step of determining includes producing an agreed range for each quality of service parameter.

22. The method of claim 21, further including the step of monitoring communications to ensure that they conform to the agreed range for each quality of service parameter.

23. The method of claim 12, wherein said determining step further comprises, responsive to a quality of service request which relates to a route that spans more than one communications system in said network, the step of communicating with said more than one communications systems, in order to obtain an overall determination of whether the quality of service request can be satisfied.

24. The method of claim 12, wherein said quality of service parameters include the data transmission rate.

25. The method of claim 12, wherein said quality of service parameters include latency.

26. A system for transmitting and/or receiving data over a network, said system including means for requesting from a communications control system a desired quality of service specifying at least two quality of service parameters, said communications control system determining whether or not the requested quality of service is available, characterised in that said system provides quality of service requests specifying the desired quality of service as a logical expression involving two or more of said at least two quality of service parameters, wherein the value of at least one of the parameters is made dependent on the value of at least one other of the parameters by the logical expression.