Method and apparatus for providing reserved rates to multiple flows on a network interface
First Claim
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1. A method for controlling data traffic flow through a network device interface supporting multiple data flows, the method comprising:
- determining how much bandwidth is being used at the interface;
for a first data flow through the interface, determining how much bandwidth allotted to the first data flow is being used in comparison to a peak rate and a reserved rate associated with the first data flow; and
depending on how much bandwidth is being used at the interface and on how much bandwidth of the first data flow is being used in comparison to its peak and reserved rates, determining whether to transmit data for the first data flow.
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Abstract
The disclosed system provides management of multiple flows at a network device interface such as a router interface to assure maximum usage of the bandwidth available on the physical line while guaranteeing minimum reserved rates for individual flows. It accomplishes this by monitoring usage of a peak rate and a reserved rate for each data flow handled by the interface.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A method for controlling data traffic flow through a network device interface supporting multiple data flows, the method comprising:
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determining how much bandwidth is being used at the interface;
for a first data flow through the interface, determining how much bandwidth allotted to the first data flow is being used in comparison to a peak rate and a reserved rate associated with the first data flow; and
depending on how much bandwidth is being used at the interface and on how much bandwidth of the first data flow is being used in comparison to its peak and reserved rates, determining whether to transmit data for the first data flow. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for controlling data traffic for multiple data flows connected to a network device interface, the apparatus comprising:
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one or more processors;
memory coupled to at least one of said one or more processors;
a reserved rate meter for each said flow, said reserved rate meter configured to track the use of reserved bandwidth associated with said data flow;
a peak rate meter for each said data flow, said peak rate meter configured to track the use of peak bandwidth associated with said data flow; and
an interface meter configured to track the use of bandwidth of said network device interface;
wherein at least one said processor is configured or designed to adjust said meters based on the amount of data transmitted and refresh said meters based on the reserved and peak rates for each flow and the bandwidth for the network device interface. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus for controlling data traffic for multiple data flows at a network interface, the apparatus comprising:
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one or more processors;
memory coupled to at least one of said one or more processors;
a reserved rate meter for each said flow, said meter configured to track the use of reserved bandwidth associated with said data flow;
a peak rate meter for each said data flow, said meter configured to track the use of peak bandwidth associated with said data flow; and
an interface meter configured to track the use of bandwidth of said network device interface;
wherein at least one of said processors is configured or designed to determine whether to transmit data for said data flow depending on the interface meter level, the reserved rate meter level, and the peak rate meter level.
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21. A method for controlling data traffic flow through a network device interface comprising:
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providing an interface token bucket associated with said network device interface;
providing peak and reserved token buckets for each flow connected to said network device interface;
refreshing the interface, reserved, and peak token buckets based on the network device bandwidth and the peak and reserved rates for said flows; and
subtracting the number of tokens equivalent to the size of a packet from the interface, peak, and reserved token buckets associated with a packet enqueued to output when the associated reserved token bucket is not empty or both the interface and associated peak token buckets are not empty.
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22. An apparatus for supporting multiple data flows and controlling at least a first data traffic flow, the apparatus comprising:
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a network device interface; and
one or more processors designed or configured to determine how much bandwidth of the interface is being used, and how much bandwidth allotted to the first data flow is being used in comparison to a peak rate and a reserved rate, and depending on how much bandwidth of the interface is being used and on how much bandwidth of the first data flow is being used in comparison to its peak and reserved rates, determining whether to transmit data for the first flow. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A computer program product comprising a machine readable medium on which is provided program instructions for controlling data traffic flow through a network device interface supporting multiple data flows, the instructions encoding a method comprising:
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determining how much bandwidth of the interface is being used;
for a first data flow through the interface, determining how much bandwidth allotted to the first flow is being used in comparison to a peak rate and a reserved rate for the first data flow; and
depending on how much bandwidth of the interface is being used and on how much bandwidth of the first data flow is being used in comparison to its peak and reserved rates, determining whether to transmit data for the first flow. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. An apparatus for controlling data traffic for multiple data flows connected to a network device interface, the apparatus comprising:
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means for processing information about said multiple flows;
means for storing at least one of said data traffic and said information, wherein the means for storing is coupled to the means for processing;
means for metering a reserved rate for each said flow, said means for metering the reserved rate configured to track the use of reserved bandwidth associated with said data flow;
means for metering a peak rate for each said data flow, said means for metering the peak rate configured to track the use of peak bandwidth associated with said data flow; and
for tracking the use of bandwidth of said network device interface;
wherein means for processing (i) adjusts the means for metering the reserved rate, the means for metering the peak rate, and the interface metering means based on the amount of data transmitted, (ii) refreshes said means for metering the reserved rate based on the reserved rate for each flow, (iii) refreshes the means for metering the peak rate based on the peak rate for each flow, and (iv) refreshes the interface metering means based on the bandwidth for the network device interface.
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39. An apparatus for supporting multiple data flows, the apparatus comprising:
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means for determining the amount of bandwidth being used at an interface;
means for determining the amount of bandwidth being used for a first data flow at the interface;
means for comparing the amount of bandwidth being used for the first data flow with a peak rate and a reserved rate associated with the first data flow; and
means for deternining whether to transmit data for the first data flow depending on the amount of bandwidth being used at the interface and the amount of bandwidth being used for the first data flow in comparison to the peak rate and the reserve rate.
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Specification