Routing and rate control in a universal transfer mode network
First Claim
1. A method of transfer rate allocation for traffic streams in a shared path through a switched data network, the shared path being used to transfer a plurality of traffic streams, and identity of data packets of each traffic stream being stored in a traffic stream buffer, each traffic stream having an assigned quality-of-service index, but none of the traffic streams having a predefined transfer rate allocation, comprising, at a predefined interval, the steps of:
- a) monitoring an occupandy of a traffic stream buffer which represents a count of data units in each traffic stream;
b) storing a current occupancy of each traffic stream buffer in a first memory;
c) storing a previous occupancy of each traffic stream buffer in a second memory;
d) comparing the current occupancy with a predefined lower bound and a predefined upper bound to determine a current zone for each traffic stream selected from a set of predefined zones;
e) comparing the current occupancy and the previous occupancy to determine whether a change in buffer occupancy for each traffic stream is positive, neutral or negative; and
f) requesting a change in the transfer rate allocation for a traffic stream if the zone and the change in buffer occupancy in combination meet a predetermined criteria.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and a network for a universal transfer mode (UTM) of transferring data packets at a regulated bit rate are disclosed. The method defines a protocol that uses an adaptive packet header to simplify packet routing and increase transfer speed. The protocol supports a plurality of data formats, such as PCM voice data, IP packets, ATM cells, frame relay and the like. The network preferably includes a plurality of modules that provide interfaces to various data sources. The modules are interconnected by an optic core with adequate inter-module links with preferably no more than two hops being required between any origination/destination pair of modules. The adaptive packet header is used for both signaling and payload transfer. The header is parsed using an algorithm to determine its function. Rate regulation is accomplished using each module control element and egress port controllers to regulate packet transfer. The protocol enables the modules to behave as a single distributed switch capable of multi-terabit transfer rates. The advantage is a high speed distributed switch capable of serving as a transfer backbone for substantially any telecommunications service.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method of transfer rate allocation for traffic streams in a shared path through a switched data network, the shared path being used to transfer a plurality of traffic streams, and identity of data packets of each traffic stream being stored in a traffic stream buffer, each traffic stream having an assigned quality-of-service index, but none of the traffic streams having a predefined transfer rate allocation, comprising, at a predefined interval, the steps of:
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a) monitoring an occupandy of a traffic stream buffer which represents a count of data units in each traffic stream;
b) storing a current occupancy of each traffic stream buffer in a first memory;
c) storing a previous occupancy of each traffic stream buffer in a second memory;
d) comparing the current occupancy with a predefined lower bound and a predefined upper bound to determine a current zone for each traffic stream selected from a set of predefined zones;
e) comparing the current occupancy and the previous occupancy to determine whether a change in buffer occupancy for each traffic stream is positive, neutral or negative; and
f) requesting a change in the transfer rate allocation for a traffic stream if the zone and the change in buffer occupancy in combination meet a predetermined criteria. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An apparatus for regulating a transfer rate allocation of traffic streams in a shared path serving a plurality of traffic streams, each traffic stream having an assigned quality-of-service index, but none of the traffic streams having a transfer rate allocation, the apparatus comprising:
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a monitor for periodically monitoring an occupancy of each traffic stream buffer;
a first memory for storing the occupancy of each traffic stream buffer when the occupancy is monitored;
a second memory for storing a previous occupancy of each traffic stream buffer from a last time that the traffic stream was monitored;
registers for storing a lower occupancy bound, an upper occupancy bound, a transfer rate allocation increment, and a transfer rate allocation decrement; and
a circuit for determining a transfer rate allocation change for each traffic stream using a difference between the occupancy stored in the first and second memories and a relationship of the current occupancy to the upper and lower bounds. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification