Method and system for burst congestion control in an internet protocol network

• US 6,405,257 B1
• Filed: 08/27/1998
• Issued: 06/11/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Level 3 Communications LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Laboratories Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Shulman, Alexander, Pathak, Girish, Gersht, Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): Burgess, Glenton B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LE, HIEU C
• Application Number:
  US09/141,941
• Time in Patent Office: 1,384 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 709/226, 709/232-236, 709/250, 709/229-239, 709/253, 709/412-417, 370/232, 370/233
• US Class Current: 709/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5624 Path aspects, e.g. path bundling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5632 Bandwidth allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5636 Monitoring or policing, e.g. compliance with allocated rate, corrective actions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5651 Priority, marking, classes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5682 Threshold; Watermark
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/15 in relation to multipoint traffic arrangements for broadcast or multicast in data networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2425 for supporting services specification, e.g. SLA
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/29 using a combination of thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/724 at intermediate nodes, e.g. resource reservation protocol [RSVP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/788 Autonomous allocation of resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/805 QOS or priority aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/822 Collecting or measuring resource availability data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/826 Involving periods of time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/829 Topology based
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0478 Provisions for broadband connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0091 : Congestion or overload control

Abstract

A method and system for controlling congestion in an IP network comprises the steps of preallocating, for a predetermined interval of time, a set of burst access parameters to a set of predetermined routes between a set of source node and destination node pairs in the IP network, and controlling, at the burst level, the traffic at each source node based on the preallocated set of burst access parameters and without communicating with other nodes in the IP network. Specifically, a network controller, for a predetermined interval of time, determines a set of routes between each source-destination node pair in the network, preallocates a set of maximum permitted rates to the predetermined set of routes, respectively, and pre-assigns a set of burst access thresholds to a set of service classes, respectively, in the predetermined routes, where the pre-assigned burst access thresholds are less than or equal to the corresponding preallocated maximum permitted rates. Based on the maximum permitted rates and the burst access thresholds, each source node in the network then controls, at the burst level, the traffic accessing the network and reserves for each admitted burst the burst peak packet rate on a predetermined route, without communicating with other nodes in the network. A source node admits an arrived burst onto a predetermined route when a total reserved peak packet rate for all bursts on the predetermined route that are in progress at the source node plus a peak packet rate of the burst is less than the identified burst access threshold. Otherwise, the source node prevents the burst from accessing the network.

Claims

1. A congestion control method for a network, said method comprising the steps:

determining for a predetermined interval of time, a set of routes between a set of source node and destination node pairs in the network;

allocating, for the predetermined interval of time, a set of maximum permitted rates to the determined set of routes, respectively;

assigning, for the predetermined interval of time, a set of burst access thresholds to a set of service classes respectively, wherein the assigned burst access thresholds are less than or equal to the corresponding allocated maximum permitted rates; and

controlling, at burst level, traffic accessing each of the source nodes based on the previously allocated set of maximum permitted rates and the previously assigned set of burst access thresholds comprises the steps of;

detecting, at one of the source nodes, a beginning of a burst in the traffic;

identifying, from among the set of service classes, the service class corresponding to the detected burst;

identifying, from among the determined set of routes, the determined route corresponding to the detected burst;

identifying, from among the assigned set of burst access thresholds, the burst access threshold corresponding to the identifies service class;

admitting the detected burst when the total reserved peak packet rate for all bursts that are in progress in the identified determined route plus a peak packet rate of the detected burst is less than or equal to the identified burst access threshold; and

rejecting the detected burst when the total reserved peak packet rate for all bursts that are in progress in the identified determined route plus a peak packet rate of the detected burst is greater than the identified burst access threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said admitting step further comprises the step of:

reserving, in the identified determined route, a bandwidth equal to the peak packet rate of the detected burst.

3. The method of claim 3 further comprising the step of:

releasing, in the identified determined route, the reserved bandwidth when detecting an end of the detected burst.

4. A method for avoiding congesting in a network, said method comprising the steps:

determining, for a predetermined interval of time, a set of routes between a set of source node and destination node pairs in the network;

allocating, for the predetermined interval of time, a set of maximum permitted rates to the determined set of routes, respectively; and

controlling, at burst level, traffic accessing reach of the source nodes based on the previously allocated set of maximum permitted rates comprises the steps of;

detecting, at one of the source nodes, a beginning of a burst in the traffic;

identifying, from among the determined set of routes, the determined route corresponding to the detected burst;

admitting the detected burst when the total reserved peak packet rate for all bursts that are in progress in the identified determined route plus a peak packet rate of the detected burst is less than or equal to the maximum permitted rate of the identified determined route; and

rejecting the detected burst when the total reserved peak packet rate for all bursts that are in progress in the identified determined route plus a peak packet rate of the detected burst is greater than the maximum permitted rate of the identified determined route.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said admitting step further comprises the step of:

reserving, in the identified determined route, a bandwidth equal to the peak packet rate of the detected burst.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising the step of:

releasing, in the identified determined route, the reserved bandwidth when detecting at the source node an end of the detected burst.