Method and system for automatic determination of priority data streams on computer networks

• US 6,363,429 B1
• Filed: 04/20/1999
• Issued: 03/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: 3Com Corporation (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Ketcham, Carl C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Geckil, Mehmet B.
• Application Number:
  US09/295,012
• Time in Patent Office: 1,071 Days
• Field of Search: 709/235, 709/231, 709/232, 709/233, 370/229, 370/235, 370/241, 370/252, 370/253, 370/234, 370/233, 714/4
• US Class Current: 709/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS

Abstract

A method and system for automatically determining priority data streams on a computer network. A data traffic signature is calculated for a data stream using one or more of an average packet spacing, average packet size, average packet jitter or variation in packet size parameters calculated for data packets in a data stream. An optimized data signature can also be calculated for a data stream using one or more of an optimized average packet spacing, optimized average packet size, optimized average packet jitter or optimized variation in packet size parameters. A calculated data traffic signature is used to determine whether the calculated data traffic signature matches a known data traffic signature for a known type of data stream. If a calculated data traffic signature matches a known data traffic signature for a known type of data stream, such as a multimedia data stream, resources are allocated on a network device to provide a desired processing priority to data packets in the data stream. Data packets in a higher priority data stream associated with a calculated data traffic signature are sent and received before any other data packets from other data streams with a lower processing priority. The desired processing priority may include a desired Quality-of-Service (“QoS”). The methods and system described herein provide a way to automatically determine a data stream type and to provide a desired processing priority including Quality-of-Service to multimedia data packets in a determined multimedia data stream. The multimedia data packets given priority can arrive with a lower latency and thus help eliminate audio/video and lip synchronization problems as well as reduce packet jitter.

Claims

1. In a computer network with a plurality of network devices, a method for determining a data traffic signature, comprising the steps of:

determining an average packet spacing parameter including a running average of differences in arrival times of data packets in a data stream sent between a source network device and destination network device on a computer network;

determining an average packet size parameter including a running average of a size of data packets in the data stream;

determining an average packet jitter parameter including a running average of a difference in arrival time of data packets in the data stream referenced to an expected arrival time for a data packet;

determining a variation in packet size parameter including a running average of differences in size from packet-to-packet in the data stream; and

creating a data traffic signature for the data stream using one or more of the average packet spacing, average packet size, average packet jitter or variation in packet size parameters.

2. A computer readable medium having stored therein instructions for causing a central processing unit to execute the method of claim 1.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the data stream comprises a plurality of data packets with a reversed source and destination network information pair.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the reversed source and destination network information pair is a reversed source and destination Internet Protocol address pair or a reversed source and destination network port number pair that includes any of Transmission Control Protocol or User Datagram Protocol port numbers.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining an average packet spacing parameter includes determining:

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining an average packet size parameter includes determining:

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining an average packet jitter parameter includes determining:

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining a variation in packet size parameter includes determining:

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the data stream is a multimedia data stream.

10. In a computer network with a plurality of network devices, a method for using a data traffic signature, comprising the steps of:

maintaining a data buffer including a plurality of data structures for a plurality of data packets that have arrived on a data stream between a source network device and a destination network device on a computer network during a current time interval;

calculating a data traffic signature using the plurality of data structures for the data packets that have arrived during the current time interval; and

associating the data traffic signature with the data stream between the source network device and the destination network device on the computer network.

11. A computer readable medium having stored therein instructions for causing a central processing unit to execute the method of claim 10.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the data stream comprises a plurality of data packets with a reversed source and destination network information pair.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the reversed source and destination network information pair includes a reversed source and destination Internet Protocol address pair or a reversed source and destination network port number pair that includes any of Transmission Control Protocol or User Datagram Protocol port numbers.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein an individual data structure in the plurality of data structures in the data buffer includes:

a data structure field for a source address, wherein the source address includes a source network address and a source network port number;

a data structure field for a destination address, wherein the destination address includes a destination network address and a destination network port number;

a data structure field for a data packet size; and

a data structure field for a data packet arrival time.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of calculating a data traffic signature using the plurality of data structures for the data packets that have arrived during the current time interval includes calculating any of a average packet spacing, average packet size, average packet jitter or variation in packet size parameter.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of associating the data traffic signature with the data stream between the source network device and the destination network device on the computer network includes associating the data traffic signature with a plurality of data packets that include a reversed source and destination network information pair.

17. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

discarding any of the plurality of data structures maintained in the data buffer that include information for data packets from a previous time interval.

18. In a computer network with a plurality of network devices, a method for determining an optimized data traffic signature, comprising the steps of:

determining an optimized average packet spacing using a previous packet spacing and a new packet spacing in a data stream sent between a source network device and destination network device on a computer network;

determining an optimized average packet size parameter using a previous packet size and a new packet size;

determining an optimized average packet jitter parameter using a previous packet jitter and a new packet jitter;

determining an optimized variation in packet size parameter using a previous variation in packet size and a new variation in packet size; and

creating an optimized data traffic signature for the data stream using one or more of the optimized average packet spacing, optimized average packet size, optimized average packet jitter or optimized variation in packet size parameters.

19. A computer readable medium having stored therein instructions for causing a central processing unit to execute the method of claim 18.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the data stream comprises a plurality of data packets with a reversed source and destination network information pair.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the reversed source and destination network information pair is a reversed source and destination Internet Protocol address pair or a reversed source and destination network port number pair that includes any of Transmission Control Protocol or User Datagram Protocol port number.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of determining an optimized average packet spacing parameter includes determining:

23. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of determining an optimized average packet size parameter includes determining:

24. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of determining an optimized average packet jitter parameter includes determining:

25. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of determining an optimized variation in packet size parameter includes determining:

26. The method of claim 20 wherein the data stream is a multimedia data stream.

27. In a computer network with a plurality of network devices, a method for using an optimized data traffic signature, comprising the steps of:

maintaining a data buffer including a plurality of optimized data structures for a plurality of data packets that have arrived on a data stream between a source network device and a destination network device on a computer network during a current time interval;

calculating an optimized data traffic signature using the plurality of optimized data structures for the data packets that have arrived during the current time interval; and

associating the optimized data traffic signature with the data stream between the source network device and the destination network device on the computer network for the current time interval.

28. A computer readable medium having stored therein instructions for causing a central processing unit to execute the method of claim 27.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein the data stream comprises a plurality of data packets with a reversed source and destination network information pair.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the reversed source and destination network information pair includes a reversed source and destination Internet Protocol address pair or a reversed source and destination network port number pair that includes any of Transmission Control Protocol or User Datagram Protocol port numbers.

31. The method of claim 27 wherein an individual data structure in the plurality of optimized data structures in the data buffer includes:

a data structure field for a source address, wherein the source address includes a source network address and a source network port number;

a data structure field for a destination address, wherein the destination address includes a destination network address and a destination network port number;

a data structure field for an average packet size;

a data structure field for an average data packet arrival time;

a data structure field for an average data packet spacing; and

a data structure field for an average data packet jitter.

32. The method of claim 27 wherein the step of calculating an optimized data traffic signature using the plurality of optimized data structures for the data packets that have arrived during the current time interval includes calculating any of an optimized average packet spacing, an optimized average packet size, an optimized average packet jitter or an optimized variation in packet size parameter.

33. The method of claim 27 wherein the step of associating the optimized data traffic signature with the data stream between the source network device and the destination network device on the computer network for the current time interval includes associating the optimized data traffic signature with a plurality of data packets that include a reversed source and destination network information pair.

34. The method of claim 27 further comprising:

storing an arrival time and a size of a last packet received with the optimized data traffic signature in the data buffer for the current time interval;

receiving a new data packet in a new time interval;

calculating a new optimized data traffic signature using information from a new data structure created in the data buffer for the new data packet in the new time interval; and

storing a new arrival time and a new size of the new data packet received with the new optimized data traffic signature in the data buffer for the new time interval.

35. In a computer network with a plurality of network devices, a method for using data traffic signatures to determine a priority for data traffic, comprising the steps of:

calculating a data traffic signature on a data stream between a source network device and a destination network device on a computer network;

determining whether the calculated data traffic signature matches a known data traffic signature for a known type of data stream, and if so,

allocating network device resources on the computer network to provide a desired processing priority to data packets in the data stream.

36. A computer readable medium having stored therein instructions for causing a central processing unit to execute the method of claim 35.

37. The method of claim 35 wherein the step of calculating a data traffic signature include calculating an optimized data traffic signature.

38. The method of claim 35 wherein the step of determining whether the calculated data traffic signature matches a known data traffic signature for a known type of data stream includes comparing the calculated data traffic signature to known data traffic signatures for known multimedia data streams that are stored in templates in a data buffer on the computer network.

39. The method of claim 35 wherein the step of allocating network device resources on the computer network to provide a desired processing priority to data packets in the data stream includes allocating resources to provide a desired quality-of-service to data packets in the data stream.

40. The method of claim 35 wherein the step of allocating network device resources on the computer network to provide a desired processing priority to data packets in the data stream includes allocating a time-slot or data channel on the source network device, wherein data packets associated with the calculated data traffic signature sent over the time-slot or data channel have a higher priority than other data packets from other data streams.

41. The method of claim 35 further comprising:

determining whether the calculated data traffic signature matches a known data traffic signature for a known type of data stream, and if not,

storing the calculated data traffic signature in a template in a data buffer on the computer network, wherein the calculated data traffic signature stored in the data buffer can be used at a later time to determine the characteristics of a data stream.

42. The method of claim 35 wherein the data stream is a multimedia data stream.

43. In a computer network with a plurality of network devices, a method for using data traffic signatures to determine a quality-of-service for data traffic, comprising the steps of:

calculating a data traffic signature on a data stream between a source network device and a destination network device on a computer network;

determining whether the calculated data traffic signature matches a known data traffic signature for a known multimedia type of data stream, and if so,

allocating resources on the source network device to provide a desired quality-of-service priority to data packets in the multimedia data stream, wherein the desired quality-of-service priority is used to send data packets in the multimedia stream before any data packets in a non-multimedia data stream.

44. A computer readable medium having stored therein instructions for causing a central processing unit to execute the method of claim 43.

45. The method of claim 43 wherein the multimedia data stream includes any of voice or video data packets.

46. In a computer network with a plurality of network devices, a method for using data traffic signatures to adjust data traffic, comprising the steps of:

calculating a plurality of data traffic signatures on a plurality of data streams between a source network device and a destination network device on a computer network;

determining whether any of the calculated data traffic signature matches a known data traffic signature for a multimedia data stream, and if so,

assigning a desired processing priority to data packets on a multimedia data stream associated with the calculated data signature; and

sending and receiving data packets on a multimedia data stream assigned a highest priority before any data packets for any other of the plurality of data streams.

47. A computer readable medium having stored therein instructions for causing a central processing unit to execute the method of claim 46.

48. The method of claim 46 further comprising:

determining whether the calculated data traffic signature matches a known data traffic signature for multimedia data stream, and if not,

sending and receiving data packets associated with the plurality of data streams without changing an original ordering for the data packets.

49. A system for providing automatic determination of quality-of-service streams, comprising in combination:

a data traffic signature calculator, for calculating a data traffic signature from a plurality of data packets from a data stream;

a plurality of data traffic signatures calculated from a plurality of data packets from known multimedia data streams for determining characteristics of a current data stream;

a plurality of data structures for storing data packet information for data packets from a data stream; and

a data buffer including a plurality of known data traffic signatures for known types of multimedia data streams for comparing to a current data stream, wherein a calculated data traffic signature is compared to the known data traffic signatures in the data buffer to determine whether a data stream for a calculated data traffic signature is a multimedia data stream.

50. The system of claim 49 wherein the plurality of data traffic signatures includes optimized data traffic signatures.