Dynamic wait acknowledge for network protocol

• US 6,633,574 B1
• Filed: 03/17/1999
• Issued: 10/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: LOYTEC electronics GmbH (Delta Electronics Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: LOYTEC electronics GmbH (Delta Electronics Incorporated)
• Inventors: Koch, Edward L, Armitage, Thomas Ian, Scott, Jeffrey Warren
• Primary Examiner(s): Yao, Kwang Bin
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HANH N
• Application Number:
  US09/271,410
• Time in Patent Office: 1,672 Days
• Field of Search: 370/231, 370/235, 370/236, 370/389, 370/400, 370/401, 370/392, 370/338, 370/351, 370/410, 370/412, 370/384, 370/385, 370/395.4, 370/420, 370/426, 714/748, 714/749
• US Class Current: 370/410
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/26 using explicit feedback to the source, e.g. choke packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/283 in response to processing delays, e.g. caused by jitter or round trip time [RTT]

Abstract

The present invention is a method for acknowledgment of receipt of a message in a network, where the network includes a plurality of nodes. The method includes sending a message from a first node of the plurality of nodes destined for a second node of the plurality of nodes; setting a timer for the first node for receipt of an acknowledgment packet from the second node; determining if a wait acknowledge packet is received by the first node; and resetting the timer if the wait acknowledge packet is received by the first node. The present invention adds a wait acknowledge event to the state in the acknowledgment protocol which waits for an acknowledgement packet from the destination node. The wait acknowledge packet notifies the recipient that the message sent by the originating node has been received and forwarded. As long as the message is being properly forwarded to the next hop, wait acknowledge packets will continue to be sent to the originating node. In this manner, the amount of time the originating node waits for the acknowledgment packet from the destination node is dynamic and is dependent upon the actual length of time it takes for the message to be transmitted through the network. This method reduces waste of network resources and minimizes the problem of unintentional duplicate messages.

Claims

1. A method for acknowledgment of receipt of a message in a network, the network including a plurality of nodes, comprising the steps of:

(a) sending a message from a first node of the plurality of nodes destined for a second node of the plurality of nodes;

(b) setting a timer for the first node for receipt of an acknowledgment packet from the second node;

(c) determining if a wait acknowledge packet is received by the first node, wherein the wait acknowledge packet notifies the first node that the message has been sent to a next hop; and

(d) resetting the timer if the wait acknowledge packet is received by the first node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending step (a) comprises:

(a1) sending the message from the first node through a sequence of routers, wherein the sequence of routers comprises a path of the message from the first node to the second node.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step (c) comprises:

(c1) determining if a current router of a sequence of routers received the message, wherein the sequence of routers comprises the path of the message from the first node to the second node;

(c2) sending a wait acknowledge packet from the current router to a preceding router if the current router received the message, wherein the wait knowledge packet notifies the preceding router that the message was received by the current router and sent to the next router in the sequence of routers, wherein the wait acknowledge packet causes each router preceding the current router to send a wait acknowledge packet to its preceding router in the sequence of routers; and

(c3) sending a wait acknowledge packet to the first node from a first router in the sequence of routers if the current router received the message.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

(e) determining if the timer has expired if the wait acknowledge packet is not received by the first node;

(f) determining if a threshold number of retries has been reached if the timer has expired; and

(g) resending the message from the first node and resetting the timer if the threshold number of retries has not been reached.

5. A system for acknowledgment of receipt of a message in a network, comprising:

means for sending a message from a first node of a plurality of nodes destined for a second node of the plurality of nodes;

means for setting a timer for the first node for receipt of an acknowledgment packet from the second node;

means for determining if a wait acknowledge packet is received by the first node, wherein the wait acknowledge packet notifies the first node that the message has been sent to a next hop; and

means for resetting the timer if the wait acknowledge packet is received by the first node.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the sending means comprises:

means for sending the message from the first node through a sequence of routers, wherein the sequence of routers comprises a path of the message from the first node to the second node.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the determining means comprises:

means for determining if a current router of a sequence of routers received the message, wherein the sequence of routers comprises the path of the message from the first node to the second node;

means for sending a wait acknowledge packet from the current router to a preceding router if the current router received the message, wherein the wait knowledge packet notifies the preceding router that the message was received by the current router and sent to the next router in the sequence of routers, wherein the wait acknowledge packet causes each router preceding the current router to send a wait acknowledge packet to its preceding router in the sequence of routers; and

means for sending a wait acknowledge packet to the first node from a first router in the sequence of routers if the current router received the message.

8. The system of claim 5, further comprising:

means for determining if the timer has expired if the wait acknowledge packet is not received by the first node;

means for determining if a threshold number of retries has been reached if the timer has expired; and

means for resending the message and resetting the timer if the threshold number of retries has not been reached.

9. A method for acknowledgment of receipt of a message in a network, the network including a plurality of nodes, comprising the steps of:

(a) sending the message from a first node of the plurality of nodes destined for a second node of the plurality of nodes through a sequence of routers, wherein the sequence of routers comprises the path of the message from the first node to the second node;

(b) setting a timer for the first node for receipt of an acknowledgment packet from the second node;

(c) determining if a current router of the sequence of routers received the message;

(d) sending a wait acknowledge packet from the current router to a preceding router if the current router received the message, wherein the wait knowledge packet notifies the preceding router that the message was received by the current router and sent to the next router in the sequence of routers wherein the wait acknowledge packet causes each router preceding the current router to send a wait acknowledge packet to its preceding router in the sequence of routers;

(e) sending a wait acknowledge packet to the first node from a first router in the sequence of routers if the current router received the message; and

(f) resetting the timer if the wait acknowledge packet is received by the first node.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

(g) determining if the timer has expired if the wait acknowledge packet is not received by the first node;

(h) determining if a threshold number of retries has been reached if the timer has expired; and

(i) resending the message and resetting the timer if the threshold number of retries has not been reached.

11. A system for acknowledgment of receipt of a message in a network, comprising:

means for sending the message from a first node of the plurality of nodes to a second node of the plurality of nodes through a sequence of routers, wherein the sequence of routers comprises the path of the message from the first node to the second node;

means for setting a timer for the first node for receipt of an acknowledgment packet from the second node;

means for determining if a current router of the sequence of routers received the message;

means for sending a wait acknowledge packet from the current router to a preceding router if the current router received the message, wherein the wait knowledge packet notifies the preceding router that the message was received by the current router and sent to the next router in the sequence of routers, wherein the wait acknowledge packet causes each router preceding the current router to send a wait acknowledge packet to its preceding router in the sequence of routers;

means for sending a wait acknowledge packet to the first node from a first router in the sequence of routers if the current router received the message; and

means for resetting the timer if the wait acknowledge packet is received by the first node.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for determining if the timer has expired if the wait acknowledge packet is not received by the first node;

means for determining if a threshold number of retries has been reached if the timer has expired; and

means for resending the message and resetting the timer if the threshold number of retries has not been reached.

13. A method for acknowledgment of receipt of a message in a network, the network including a plurality of nodes, comprising the steps of:

(a) sending the message from a first node of the plurality of nodes to a second node of the plurality of nodes through a sequence of routers, wherein the sequence of routers comprises the path of the message from the first node to the second node;

(b) setting a timer for the first node for receipt of an acknowledgment packet from the second node;

(c) determining if a current router of the sequence of routers received the message;

(d) sending a wait acknowledge packet from the current router to a preceding router if the current router received the message, wherein the wait knowledge packet notifies the preceding router that the message was received by the current router and sent to the next router in the sequence of routers, wherein the wait acknowledge packet.causes each router preceding the current router to send a wait acknowledge packet to its preceding router in the sequence of routers;

(e) sending a wait acknowledge packet to the first node from a first router in the sequence of routers if the current router received the message;

(f) resetting the timer if the wait acknowledge packet is received by the first node;

(g) determining if the timer has expired if the wait acknowledge packet is not received by the first node;

(h) determining if a threshold number of retries has been reached if the timer has expired; and

(i) resending the message and resetting the timer if the threshold number of retries has not been reached.

14. A system for acknowledgment of receipt of a message in a network, comprising:

means for sending the message from a first node of the plurality of nodes to a second node of the plurality of nodes through a sequence of routers, wherein the sequence of routers comprises the path of the message from the first node to the second node;

means for setting a timer for the first node for receipt of an acknowledgment packet from the second node;

means for determining if a current router of the sequence of routers received the message;

means for sending a wait acknowledge packet from the current router to a preceding router if the current router received the message, wherein the wait knowledge packet notifies the preceding router that the message was received by the current router and sent to the next router in the sequence of routers, wherein the wait acknowledge packet causes each router preceding the current router to send a wait acknowledge packet to its preceding router in the sequence of routers;

means for sending a wait acknowledge packet to the first node from a first router in the sequence of routers if the current router received the message;

means for resetting the timer if the wait acknowledge packet is received by the first node;

means for determining if the timer has expired if the wait acknowledge packet is not received by the first node;

means for determining if a threshold number of retries has been reached if the timer has expired; and

means for resending the message and resetting the timer if the threshold number of retries has not been reached.

15. A computer readable medium with computer instructions for acknowledgment of receipt of a message in a network, the network including a plurality of nodes, the instructions comprising:

(a) sending a message from a first node of the plurality of nodes to a second node of the plurality of nodes;

(b) setting a timer for the first node for receipt of an acknowledgment packet from the second node;

(c) determining if a wait acknowledge packet is received by the first node, wherein the wait acknowledge packet notifies the first node that the message has been sent to a next hop; and

(d) resetting the timer if the wait acknowledge packet is received by the first node.