Method and system for providing quality-of-service in a data-over-cable system
First Claim
1. In a data-over-cable system with a plurality of network devices, a method for providing quality-of-service, the method comprising the following steps:
- receiving a request on a first network device from a second network device to establish a connection between the second network device and a third network device with a specific quality-of-service, wherein the request for a quality-of-service connection request includes class-of-service and quality-of-service parameters;
determining on the first network device whether the second network device has enough available bandwidth to establish the quality-of-service connection to the third network device with the specific quality-of-service requested, and if so, subtracting a bandwidth required for the specific quality-of-service requested from the available bandwidth for the second network device;
assigning a quality-of-service identifier to the required quality-of-service bandwidth;
storing the assigned quality-of-service identifier on the first network device; and
sending the assigned quality-of-service identifier to the second network device, wherein the assigned quality-of-service identifier indicates that the second network device has enough bandwidth to establish the connection to the third network device with the specific quality-of-service requested.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for quality-of-service in a data-over-cable system is provided. A cable modem in a data-over-cable system makes a connection request to a cable modem termination system with a requested quality-of-service. The requested quality-of-service includes class-of-service, quality-of-service and other related parameters. The connection request is sent from a cable modem or a cable modem termination system to a Quality-of-Service (“QoS”) server. The OoS server determines if the cable modem termination system has enough bandwidth to make the connection to the cable modem with the requested quality-of-service. If the cable modem termination system has enough bandwidth, a quality-of-service identifier is to returned to the cable modem termination system. The cable modem termination system uses the quality-of-service identifier to make a connection to the cable modem with the requested QoS to the cable modem. The QoS server reduces the computational burden and complexity of software on the cable modem termination system. The QoS server is flexible and adaptable to new QoS parameters and provides a standard way to balance QoS requests among multiple cable modem termination systems.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. In a data-over-cable system with a plurality of network devices, a method for providing quality-of-service, the method comprising the following steps:
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receiving a request on a first network device from a second network device to establish a connection between the second network device and a third network device with a specific quality-of-service, wherein the request for a quality-of-service connection request includes class-of-service and quality-of-service parameters;
determining on the first network device whether the second network device has enough available bandwidth to establish the quality-of-service connection to the third network device with the specific quality-of-service requested, and if so, subtracting a bandwidth required for the specific quality-of-service requested from the available bandwidth for the second network device;
assigning a quality-of-service identifier to the required quality-of-service bandwidth;
storing the assigned quality-of-service identifier on the first network device; and
sending the assigned quality-of-service identifier to the second network device, wherein the assigned quality-of-service identifier indicates that the second network device has enough bandwidth to establish the connection to the third network device with the specific quality-of-service requested. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
determining on the first network device whether the second network device has enough bandwidth to establish the connection to the third network device with the specific quality-of-service requested, and if not, sending a rejection to the second network device indicating that there is not enough available bandwidth on the second network device to establish a connection with the specific quality-of-service requested.
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6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
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receiving a request on the first network device to release bandwidth for a specific quality-of-service connection, the request including a quality-of-service identifier;
deleting the quality-of-service identifier stored on the first network device; and
adding a bandwidth released for the specific quality-of-service identified by the quality-of-service identifier to an available bandwidth for the second network device.
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7. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining step includes determining whether the second network device has enough usable bandwidth in the available bandwidth to guarantee the specific quality-of-service requested at a required transmission rate in the available bandwidth for the second network device.
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8. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining step includes determining whether the second network device has enough available bandwidth using a plurality of quality-of-service identifiers stored on the first network device.
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9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of assigning a quality-of-service identifier to specific quality-of-service requested includes assigning bandwidth for upstream and downstream channels for the connection from the second network device to the third network device.
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10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of assigning a quality-of-service identifier to specific quality-of-service requested includes assigning a quality-of-service identifier value based on a required transmission bandwidth for the specific quality-of-service desired.
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11. The method of claim 1 wherein the storing step includes grouping quality-of-service identifiers for quality-of-service requests requiring similar transmission bandwidths.
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12. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of receiving a request on a first network device includes receiving a request from either the second network device or the third network device.
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13. In a data-over-cable system with a plurality of network devices, a method of providing quality-of-service, the method comprising the following steps:
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receiving a request on a first network device from a second network device, the request including a request to establish connection between the second network device and the first network device with a specific quality-of-service requested;
sending the request to a third network device to determine whether the second network device has enough bandwidth to establish the connection to the first network device with the specific quality-of-service requested;
receiving a response from the third network device;
determining whether the response contains a quality-of-service identifier for the specific quality-of-service requested, wherein the quality-of-service identifier indicates that the second network device has enough available bandwidth to establish the connection, and if the response contains a quality-of-service identifier, and if so, connecting the second network device to the first network device with the specific quality-of-service requested. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
determining whether the response contains a quality-of-service identifier for the specific quality-of-service requested by the first network device, and if not, rejecting the request for the connection between the first network device and the second network device for the specific quality-of-service requested by the first network device.
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18. A system for providing quality-of-service connections, the system comprising:
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quality-of-service server, for determining whether a first network device has enough available bandwidth to establish a connection to a second network device with a specific quality-of-service requested by the second network device, wherein the specific quality-of-service requested includes class-of-service and quality-of-service parameters; and
plurality of quality-of-service identifiers, for identifying a transmission bandwidth required for a specific quality-of-service requested by a second network device, wherein a value for the quality-of-service identifier is determined by a quality-of-service bandwidth requested with class-of-service and quality-of-service parameters. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. In a data-over-cable system with a plurality of cable modems, a method for providing quality-of-service, the method comprising the following steps:
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sending a request for a specific quality-of-service from a first network device to a second network device to determine whether a third network device has enough bandwidth to establish a connection to the first network device;
receiving a response from the second network device; and
determining whether the response contains a quality-of-service identifier for the specific quality-of-service requested by the first network device, wherein the quality-of-service identifier indicates that the second network device has enough available bandwidth to establish the connection, and if the response contains a quality-of-service identifier, sending the quality-of-service identifier from the first network device to the third network device. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
receiving the quality-of-service identifier on the third network device from the second network device; and
establishing a connection from the third network device to the first network device based on the specific quality-of-service requested by the first network device.
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25. In a data-over-cable system with a plurality of cable modems, a method for providing quality-of-service, the method comprising the following steps:
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receiving a request on a quality-of-service server from a cable modem termination system, the request including a request to establish a connection between the cable modem termination system and a cable modem with a specific quality-of-service requested by the cable modem, wherein the quality-of-service request includes class-of-service and quality-of-service parameters;
determining on the quality-of-service server whether the cable modem termination system has enough bandwidth to establish the connection to the cable modem with the specific quality-of-service requested by the cable modem, and if so, subtracting a bandwidth required for the specific quality-of-service requested by the cable modem from an available bandwidth for the cable modem termination system;
assigning a quality-of-service identifier to the specific quality-of-service bandwidth requested by the cable modem;
storing the assigned quality-of-service identifier on the quality-of-service server; and
sending the assigned quality-of-service identifier to the cable modem termination system, wherein the quality-of-service identifier indicates that the cable modem termination system has enough available bandwidth to establish the connection to the cable modem. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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Specification