Method and apparatus for controlling admission of connection requests

• US 6,442,138 B1
• Filed: 07/30/1999
• Issued: 08/27/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: Yin, Nanying, Willis, Steven R.
• Primary Examiner(s): HSU, ALPUS
• Application Number:
  US09/365,350
• Time in Patent Office: 1,124 Days
• Field of Search: 370/229, 370/230, 370/231, 370/232, 370/234, 370/235, 370/252, 370/253, 370/389, 370/395.1, 370/465, 370/468, 370/477, 370/395.2, 370/395.21, 709/232, 709/233, 709/234, 709/235, 709/249
• US Class Current: 370/232
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5629 Admission control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5632 Bandwidth allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5651 Priority, marking, classes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5679 Arbitration or scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5681 Buffer or queue management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• 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: H04Q 11/0478 Provisions for broadband connections

Abstract

A system controls the admission of a connection request based on available resources. The received connection request specifies a particular class of service. The system then determines the allocated bandwidth for the specified class of service. Available resources for the specified class of service are determined based on measured traffic flow and the allocated bandwidth associated with the specified class of service. The connection request is accepted if the available resources are capable of supporting the requested connection. An allocation factor may be used by the system to allocate bandwidth. The allocation factor can be updated based on changes in measured traffic flow. Additionally, subscribed traffic parameters may be used to determine available resources for the specified class of service.

Claims

1. A method for controlling admission of connection requests, the method comprising:

receiving a connection request to establish a requested connection; and

determining an allocated bandwidth for the requested connection using an allocation factor that permits oversubscription of the allocated bandwidth when a measured traffic flow is less than a subscribed bandwidth provided by at least one traffic parameter of the connection request.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining available resources for the requested connection in response to the measured traffic flow and to the allocated bandwidth; and

accepting the connection request if there are available resources to support the requested connection.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the determining of the available resources is further in response to traffic parameters included in the connection request.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising maintaining a Quality of Service (QoS) for the requested connection in response to Quality of Service (QoS) parameters included in the connection request.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to determining the allocated bandwidth, the method further comprising selecting the allocation factor based on a class of service included in the connection request.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising updating the allocation factor in response to a measured traffic flow.

7. A method for controlling admission of a connection request received by a network node to establish a requested connection, the method comprising:

determining available resources for the requested connection in response to an allocation factor associated with the connection request, the allocation factor permitting oversubscription of allocated bandwidth when a measured traffic flow is less than a subscribed bandwidth provided by at least one traffic parameter of the connection request; and

accepting the connection request if there are available resources to support the requested connection.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein prior to determining the available resources, the method further comprising determining the allocation factor in response to a class of service provided in the connection request.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining of the allocation factor is further in response to the measured traffic flow.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the determining of the allocation factor is further in response to traffic parameters provided in the connection request.

11. The method of claim 7 further comprising guaranteeing a Quality of Service (QoS) for the requested connection in response to Quality of Service (QoS) parameters provided in the connection request.

12. The method of claim 7 further comprising updating the allocation factor in response to changes in the measured traffic flow.

13. The method of claim 7 wherein the network node is one of a switching system product, a transmission system product, and an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switch.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

a rate monitor to measure traffic flow; and

a connection admission controller in communication with the rate monitor to determine a bandwidth allocation for a requested connection in response to the traffic flow, and to permit oversubscription of allocated bandwidth based on an allocation factor when the measured traffic flow is less than a subscribed bandwidth provided by at least one traffic parameter of the connection request.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the connection admission controller receives a connection request to establish the requested connection.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the connection admission controller determines the allocation factor in response to a class of service included in the connection request.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the connection admission controller further determines the allocation factor in response to traffic parameters included in the connection request.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the connection admission controller guarantees a Quality of Service (QoS) for the requested connection in response to Quality of Service (QoS) parameters included in the connection request.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the connection admission controller accepts the connection request if there are available resources to support the requested connection.

20. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the connection admission controller updates the bandwidth allocation in response to the traffic flow measured by the rate monitor.

21. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the apparatus, is a switching system product.

22. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the apparatus is a transmission system product.

23. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the apparatus is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switch.

24. An apparatus comprising:

means for measuring traffic flow; and

means for determining a bandwidth allocation for a requested connection in response to a the traffic flow and for permitting oversubscription of allocated bandwidth based on an allocation factor when the measured traffic flow is less than a subscribed bandwidth provided by at least one traffic parameter of the connection request, the means for determining being in communication with the means for measuring.