Method and apparatus for applying quality of service to multicast streams transmitted in a cable network
First Claim
1. In a cable network headend, a method of applying a specified quality of service to a multicast transmission on a cable network, the method comprising:
- receiving a level three communication specifying one or more quality of service parameters for the multicast transmission;
creating a virtual cable modem and specifying one more quality of service parameters for the virtual cable modem, thereby controlling the multicast transmission quality of service on the cable network; and
providing the multicast transmission on the cable network according to the specified quality of service parameters.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for providing quality of service parameters for transmissions of multicast streams on a cable network is provided. A cable network headend connects an external network to a hybrid fiber coax or cable network. The cable network headend maintains a table of cable modems with entries associating each cable modem with one or more quality of service parameters. Virtual cable modem entries are created for multicast streams when indications of quality of service for multicast streams are received by the cable network headend. Multicast packets arriving at the cable network headend are processed using the stored quality of service parameters for the corresponding multicast stream. The multicast packets may then be transmitted, queued, or dropped depending on the specified parameters and traffic shaping or policing algorithms.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. In a cable network headend, a method of applying a specified quality of service to a multicast transmission on a cable network, the method comprising:
-
receiving a level three communication specifying one or more quality of service parameters for the multicast transmission; creating a virtual cable modem and specifying one more quality of service parameters for the virtual cable modem, thereby controlling the multicast transmission quality of service on the cable network; and providing the multicast transmission on the cable network according to the specified quality of service parameters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A computer program product comprising a machine readable medium on which is provided program instructions for applying quality of service to a multicast transmission on a cable network, the instructions encoding a method comprising:
-
receiving a level three communication specifying one or more quality of service parameters for the multicast transmission; creating a virtual cable modem and specifying one more quality of service parameters for the virtual cable modem, thereby controlling the multicast transmission quality of service on the cable network; and providing the multicast transmission on the cable network according to the specified quality of service parameters. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. An apparatus for applying a specified quality of service to a multicast transmission on a cable network, the apparatus comprising:
-
a network interface allowing the apparatus to connect with an external network and receive one or more packets associated with the multicast transmission, wherein the one or more packets contain quality of service parameters for the multicast transmission; a cable network interface allowing the apparatus to connect with a cable network and introduce the multicast transmission onto the cable network; and a processor configured or designed to create a virtual cable modem associated with one or more quality of service parameters, thereby controlling the multicast transmission quality of service on the cable network. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. An apparatus for applying a specified quality of service to a multicast transmission on a cable network, the apparatus comprising:
-
means for receiving from an external network one or more packets associated with quality of service parameters for a multicast stream; means for transmitting a stream of multicast content to one or more cable modems on the cable network; and processing means for applying the quality of service parameters specified in the packets received from the external network to the transmission of the stream of multicast content to one or more cable modems on the cable network.
-
Specification