Network congestion control system and method
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for alleviating congestion in a communication network, the communication network enabling the flow of data to and from a plurality of end user devices that are connected to the network through a plurality of communication devices, the method comprising the steps of:
- monitoring data flows to and from the plurality of end user devices for indications of congestion; and
controlling the data rate of at least one end user device in response to said congestion indications.
17 Assignments
Litigations
2 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A network congestion control system and method facilitate the transmission of information on a communication network by monitoring the data streams coming out of the communication network for congestion notifications, and actively rate controlling the end user application sessions based on such congestion notifications to alleviate the network congestion. This provides congestion control for the network and can be used to avoid congestion reaching the point where the network has to discard data. The end user sessions can be divided into mission critical sessions and non-mission critical sessions. These session types can be prioritized so that non-mission critical sessions are rate controlled during periods of congestion, while mission critical sessions remain unaffected. Mission critical sessions are effectively reserved a specific amount of bandwidth with the rest of the available bandwidth (up to the congestion point) being allocated dynamically to the non-mission critical sessions.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for alleviating congestion in a communication network, the communication network enabling the flow of data to and from a plurality of end user devices that are connected to the network through a plurality of communication devices, the method comprising the steps of:
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monitoring data flows to and from the plurality of end user devices for indications of congestion; and
controlling the data rate of at least one end user device in response to said congestion indications. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
classifying each of said data flows to and from the plurality of end user devices as either mission critical or non-mission critical; and
controlling the data rate of at least one end user device involved in a non-mission critical data flow.
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5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of:
controlling the data rate of at least one end user device involved in a mission critical data flow.
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6. A system for alleviating congestion in a communication network, the communication network enabling the flow of data to and from a plurality of end user devices that are connected to the network through a plurality of communication devices, comprising:
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means for monitoring data flows to and from the plurality of end user devices for indications of congestion; and
means for controlling the data rate of at least one end user device in response to said congestion indications. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
means for classifying each of the data flows to and from the plurality of end user devices as either mission critical or non-mission critical; and
means for controlling the data rate of at least one end user device involved in a non-mission critical data flow.
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12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:
means for controlling the data rate of at least one end user device involved in a mission critical data flow.
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13. A computer readable medium having a program for alleviating congestion in a communication network, the communication network enabling the flow of data to and from a plurality of end user devices that are connected to the network through a plurality of communication devices, comprising:
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logic configured to monitor data flows to and from the plurality of end user devices for indications of congestion; and
logic configured to control the data rate of at least one end user device in response to said congestion indications. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
logic configured to classify each of said data flows to and from the plurality of end user devices as either mission critical or non-mission critical; and
logic configured to control the data rate of at least one end user device involved in a non-mission critical data flow.
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19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, further comprising:
logic configured to control the data rate of at least one end user device involved in a mission critical data flow.
Specification