Method of dynamic prioritization of time sensitive packets over a packet based network
First Claim
1. A method for dynamically prioritizing time sensitive packets for transmission over a packet based network, said method comprising the steps of:
- adding, at an originator of said packet, a time to live (TTL) value field to time sensitive packets wherein said TTL value is set to an initial value;
determining, at each network entity along the path, a priority level for each time sensitive packet received, said priority level determined in accordance with the TTL value extracted from said packet;
distributing each time sensitive packet to one of a plurality of queues in accordance with the priority associated with said packet; and
replacing said TTL value field in said packet with the previous TTL value modified to reflect the time said packet spent in the current network element.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for and a method of dynamically prioritizing packets over a packet based network. Packets are dynamically prioritized on the basis of their ‘time to live’ in the network as they travel from one network entity to another. Packets are assigned a priority in accordance with how ‘old’ or ‘young’ they are. Packets with a relatively long time left to live are assigned lower priority then those with relatively little time left to live. A time to live (TTL) field is added to the packet as it travels from one network entity to another. The contents of the time to live (TTL) field represents how ‘young’ or ‘old’ the packet is and conveys the time left before the packet is no longer of any use. Each network entity that receives the packet with a TTL field, subtracts from it the time the packet spends passing through that entity. The field decreases as it hops from network entity to entity until it reaches its destination or is discarded.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method for dynamically prioritizing time sensitive packets for transmission over a packet based network, said method comprising the steps of:
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adding, at an originator of said packet, a time to live (TTL) value field to time sensitive packets wherein said TTL value is set to an initial value;
determining, at each network entity along the path, a priority level for each time sensitive packet received, said priority level determined in accordance with the TTL value extracted from said packet;
distributing each time sensitive packet to one of a plurality of queues in accordance with the priority associated with said packet; and
replacing said TTL value field in said packet with the previous TTL value modified to reflect the time said packet spent in the current network element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus for dynamically prioritizing packets in a network entity according to their sensitivity to time delays, comprising:
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means for adding, at an originator of said packet, a time to live (TTL) value field to time sensitive packets wherein said TTL value is set to an initial value;
means for determining a priority level for each time sensitive packet received by said network entity, said priority level determined in accordance with the TTL value associated with said packet;
a plurality of queues for holding time sensitive packets, said plurality of queues divided into a plurality of groups, each group corresponding to a different priority level;
a distributor adapted to place each time sensitive packet into one of said plurality of queues in accordance with the priority associated with said packet; and
means for replacing said TTL value field in said packet with the previous TTL value modified to reflect the time said packet spent in said network element. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification