Packet transmission method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A method for transmitting data packets via a telecommunication network, comprising the steps of:
- multiplexing a plurality of data packets of several connections to a variable length data packet;
providing each of said plurality of data packets with a header portion defining at least an identification information of the respective data packet;
providing said variable length data packet with an information field indicating a common length of said plurality of data packets; and
forming different queues each comprising data packets of one length, and using data packets of one of these queues for generating said variable length data packets.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A packet transmission method and apparatus, according to which short data samples or mini packets from several simultaneous connections are multiplexed to a variable length packet. The length of the mini packets is defined in a common length field for mini packets of the same length, which saves bandwidth. Each mini packet has its own header, which defines at least an identification information of the mini packet. Thus, the variable length packet, e.g. an IP packet, includes a plurality of mini packets with a minimum header portion, such that transmission overhead is reduced due to the fact that most mini packets tend to be of the same length. Moreover, different queues for mini packets of one respective length may be provided, from which mini packets of one length are multiplexed to the variable length data packet. Thereby, the ratio of variable length data packets including mini packets of one length is further increased so as to further decrease the transmission overhead.
20 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method for transmitting data packets via a telecommunication network, comprising the steps of:
-
multiplexing a plurality of data packets of several connections to a variable length data packet;
providing each of said plurality of data packets with a header portion defining at least an identification information of the respective data packet;
providing said variable length data packet with an information field indicating a common length of said plurality of data packets; and
forming different queues each comprising data packets of one length, and using data packets of one of these queues for generating said variable length data packets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. An apparatus for transmitting data packets via a communication network, comprising:
-
multiplexing means for multiplexing a plurality of said data packets of several connections to a variable length data packet;
header generating means for adding a header portion to each of said plurality of data packets, said header portion defining at least an identification information of the respective data packet;
providing means for providing said variable length data packet with an information field indicating a common length of said plurality of data packets; and
selecting means for selecting data packets according to their length, and queuing means for placing said selected data packets into respective queues comprising data packets of one respective length. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20)
-
-
18. An apparatus for transmitting data packets via a communication network, comprising:
-
multiplexing means for multiplexing a plurality of said data packets of several connections to a variable length data packet;
header generating means for adding a header portion to each of said plurality of data packets, said header portion defining at least an identification information of the respective data packet; and
providing means for providing said variable length data packet with an information field indicating a common length of said plurality of data packets, wherein said header generating means sets said length field to a predetermined value, when said data packet is the last data packet in said variable length data packet. - View Dependent Claims (19)
-
Specification