Methods and apparatus for dynamic bandwidth adjustment

• US 7,116,682 B1
• Filed: 03/19/2001
• Issued: 10/03/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Waclawsky, John G., Velauthapillai, Mahendran, Kalyanasundaram, Balasubramanian
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo, Ricky Q.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEE, ANDREW CHUNG CHEUNG
• Application Number:
  US09/811,969
• Time in Patent Office: 2,024 Days
• Field of Search: 370/468, 370/465, 370/329, 370/335, 370/337, 370/341
• US Class Current: 370/468
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/1682 Allocation of channels according to the instantaneous demands of the users, e.g. concentrated multiplexers, statistical multiplexers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/15 in relation to multipoint traffic arrangements for broadcast or multicast in data networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/762 triggered by the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/824 Applicable to portable or mobile terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/20 Negotiating bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

A configuration of a communications device, and a method for its operation are provided for automatically and dynamically adjusting bandwidth of a communications channel. The device and method operate to detect events indicating anticipated changes in bandwidth requirements of the communications channel. Such events may be browser or bandwidth related events, for example, that indicate a forthcoming requirement for increased or decreased bandwidth. The device and method then can extract a bandwidth determination factor if available and then calculate a new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting such an event and can adjust a bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the new value of the bandwidth setting such that communications channel can accommodate the anticipated change(s) in the bandwidth requirement. The invention can operate in wireless and non-wireless communications systems to cause bandwidth to be adjusted to closely track usage requirements of the communications channel.

Claims

1. In a communications device, the communications device being a browser enabled device, a method for dynamically adjusting bandwidth of a communications channel, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting a first event indicating a first anticipated change in a bandwidth requirement of the communications channel, the first event indicating a browser event requiring a browser in the communications device to access content from a remote computer system;

calculating a first new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the first event, the first new value of the bandwidth setting of the communications channel being calculated to accommodate additional bandwidth used to receive the content from the remote computer system;

adjusting a bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the first new value of the bandwidth setting such that communications channel can accommodate the first anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement;

detecting a second event indicating a second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement of a communications channel;

calculating a second new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the second event; and

further adjusting the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the second new value of the bandwidth setting such that communications channel accommodates the second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

performing communications on the communications channel using the bandwidth setting having the first new value;

detecting an end of the first event indicating that the first anticipated change in a bandwidth requirement of a communications channel is complete; and

adjusting the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel to an original value of the bandwidth setting that existed prior to the detection of the first event.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of calculating a first new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the first event comprises the steps of:

determining if the bandwidth event contains a bandwidth determination factor, and if the bandwidth event contains a bandwidth determination factor;

i) extracting the bandwidth determination factor from the bandwidth event; and

ii) calculating the new value for the bandwidth setting based on the bandwidth determination factor;

and if the bandwidth event contains a bandwidth determination factor, adjusting the bandwidth setting to at least one of a next higher level and a next lower level based on the bandwidth event.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the first bandwidth event indicates a first increased anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement of the communications channel and the second bandwidth event indicates a second increased anticipated change in the bandwidth requirements of the communications channel; and

wherein the first new value of the bandwidth setting is greater than a former value of the bandwidth setting and the second new value of the bandwidth setting is greater than the first new value of the bandwidth setting, such that the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel is dynamically adjusted to raise the bandwidth of the communications channel in response to the first and second bandwidth events.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein at least one of the first bandwidth event and the second bandwidth event indicate a browser event for at least one of:

i) a beginning of a communications session;

ii) a beginning of content processing; and

iii) a user bandwidth request for additional bandwidth on the communications channel.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the first bandwidth event indicates an increased anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement of the communications channel and the second bandwidth event indicates a decreased anticipated change in the bandwidth requirements of the communications channel; and

wherein the first new value of the bandwidth setting is greater than a former value of the bandwidth setting and the second new value of the bandwidth setting is less than the first new value of the bandwidth setting, such that;

i) the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel is dynamically adjusted to raise the bandwidth of the communications channel in response to the first bandwidth event; and

ii) the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel is dynamically adjusted to lower the bandwidth of the communications channel in response to the second bandwidth event.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the second bandwidth event indicates an end of the first bandwidth event.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the first bandwidth event indicates a browser event for at least one of:

i) a beginning of a communications session;

ii) a beginning of content processing;

and wherein the second bandwidth event indicates a browser event for at least one of;

i) an end of a communications session;

ii) an end of content processing; and

iii) a timeout associated with an earlier bandwidth event.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of detecting the first event includes parsing content accessed by the browser to detect a content reference within the content.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of detecting the first event detects a communications session message generated by the browser.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the communications device is a wireless device and the communications channel is a wireless communications channel and wherein the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel is at least one of:

i) a timeslot allocation for a time division multiple access protocol operating on the communications channel;

ii) at least one frequency for a code division multiple access protocol operating on the communications channel; and

iii) at least one frequency code for a code division multiple access protocol operating on the communications channel.

12. A browser-enabled communications device comprising:

an communications interface;

a memory system;

a processor; and

an interconnection mechanism coupling the communications interface, the memory system, and the processor;

wherein the memory system is configured with a bandwidth manager application, that when performed on the processor, provides a bandwidth manager process that dynamically adjusts bandwidth of a communications channel operating on the communications interface by performing the operations of;

detecting a first event indicating a first anticipated change in a bandwidth requirement of the communications channel, the first event indicating a browser event requiring a browser in the communications device to access content from a remote computer system;

calculating a first new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the first event, the first new value of the bandwidth setting of the communications channel being calculated to accommodate additional bandwidth used to receive the content from the remote computer system;

adjusting a bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the first new value of the bandwidth setting such that communications channel can accommodate the first anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement;

detecting a second event indicating a second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement of a communications channel;

calculating a second new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the second event; and

further adjusting the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the second new value of the bandwidth setting such that communications channel accommodates the second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement.

13. The communications device of claim 12 wherein the bandwidth manager process further performs the operations of:

performing communications on the communications channel using the bandwidth setting having the first new value;

detecting an end of the first event indicating that the first anticipated change in a bandwidth requirement of a communications channel is complete; and

adjusting the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel to an original value of the bandwidth setting that existed prior to the detection of the first event.

14. The communications device of claim 12 wherein when the bandwidth manager process performs the operation of calculating a first new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the first event, the bandwidth manager process further performs the operations of:

determining if the bandwidth event contains a bandwidth determination factor, and if the bandwidth event contains a bandwidth determination factor;

i) extracting the bandwidth determination factor from the bandwidth event; and

ii) calculating the new value for the bandwidth setting based on the bandwidth determination factor;

and if the bandwidth event contains a bandwidth determination factor, adjusting the bandwidth setting to at least one of a next higher level and a next lower level based on the bandwidth event.

15. The communications device of claim 14 wherein

the first bandwidth event indicates a first increased anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement of the communications channel and the second bandwidth event indicates a second increased anticipated change in the bandwidth requirements of the communications channel;

and

wherein the first new value of the bandwidth setting is greater than a former value of the bandwidth setting and the second new value of the bandwidth setting is greater than the first new value of the bandwidth setting, such that the bandwidth manager process dynamically adjusts the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel to raise the bandwidth of the communications channel in response to the first and second bandwidth events.

16. The communications device of claim 15 wherein at least one of the first bandwidth event and the second bandwidth event indicate a browser event for at least one of:

i) a beginning of a communications session;

ii) a beginning of content processing; and

iii) a user bandwidth request for additional bandwidth on the communications channel.

17. The communications device of claim 12 wherein:

the first bandwidth event indicates an increased anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement of the communications channel and the second bandwidth event indicates a decreased anticipated change in the bandwidth requirements of the communications channel; and

wherein the first new value of the bandwidth setting is greater than a former value of the bandwidth setting and the second new value of the bandwidth setting is less than the first new value of the bandwidth setting, such that;

i) the bandwidth manager process dynamically adjusts the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel to raise the bandwidth of the communications channel in response to the first bandwidth event; and

ii) the bandwidth manager process dynamically adjusts the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel to lower the bandwidth of the communications channel in response to the second bandwidth event.

18. The communications device of claim 17 wherein the second bandwidth event indicates an end of the first bandwidth event.

19. The communications device of claim 17 wherein the first bandwidth event indicates a browser event for at least one of:

i) a beginning of a communications session;

ii) a beginning of content processing;

and wherein the second bandwidth event indicates a browser event for at least one of;

i) an end of a communications session;

ii) an end of content processing; and

iii) a timeout associated with an earlier bandwidth event.

20. The communications device of claim 12 wherein when the bandwidth manager process performs the operation of detecting the first event, the bandwidth manager process performs the operation parsing content accessed by the browser to detect a content reference within the content.

21. The communications device of claim 12 wherein when the bandwidth manager process performs the operation of detecting the first event, the bandwidth manager process detects a communications session message generated by the browser.

22. The communications device of claim 12 wherein the communications device is a wireless device and the communications channel is a wireless communications channel and wherein the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel is at least one of:

i) a timeslot allocation for a time division multiple access protocol operating on the communications channel;

ii) at least one frequency for a code division multiple access protocol operating on the communications channel; and

ii) at least one frequency code for a code division multiple access protocol operating on the communications channel.

23. A computer program product having a computer-readable medium including bandwidth manager application computer program logic encoded thereon for adjusting bandwidth of a communications channel, such that the computer program logic, when performed on at least one processor within a browser-enabled communications device, causes the at least one processor to perform the operations of:

detecting a first event indicating a first anticipated change in a bandwidth requirement of the communications channel, the first event indicating a browser event requiring a browser in the communications device to access content from a remote computer system;

calculating a first new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the first event, the first new value of the bandwidth setting of the communications channel being calculated to accommodate additional bandwidth used to receive the content from the remote computer system;

adjusting a bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the first new value of the bandwidth setting such that communications channel can accommodate the first anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement;

detecting a second event indicating a second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement of a communications channel;

calculating a second new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the second event; and

further adjusting the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the second new value of the bandwidth setting such that communications channel accommodates the second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement.

24. A browser-enabled communications device comprising:

an communications interface;

a memory system;

a processor; and

an interconnection mechanism coupling the communications interface, the memory system, and the processor;

wherein the memory system is configured with a bandwidth manager application, that when performed on the processor, provides a means to dynamically adjust bandwidth of a communications channel operating on the communications interface, such means including;

means for detecting a first event indicating a first anticipated change in a bandwidth requirement of the communications channel, the first event indicating a browser event requiring a browser in the communications device to access content from a remote computer system;

means for calculating a first new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the first event, the first new value of the bandwidth setting of the communications channel being calculated to accommodate additional bandwidth used to receive the content from the remote computer system;

means for adjusting a bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the first new value of the bandwidth setting such that communications channel can accommodate the first anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement;

means for detecting a second event indicating a second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement of a communications channel;

means for calculating a second new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the second event; and

means for further adjusting the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the second new value of the bandwidth setting such that communications channel accommodates the second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement.

25. A method of managing the use of a communications channel of a network by a network application, the communications channel utilizing bandwidth allocated by a network communications device in the network, comprising:

detecting activity of the network application indicating that a new communications session will be established requiring a first anticipated change in bandwidth allocated to the communications channel;

calculating a first new value for an allocated bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the network application activity;

negotiating with the network communications device to adjust a bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the first new value of the allocated bandwidth setting to effect the first anticipated change in the bandwidth allocated to the communications channel;

detecting a second event indicating a second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement of a communications channel;

calculating a second new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the second event; and

further adjusting the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the second new value of the bandwidth setting such that communications channel accommodates the second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement.

26. A communications device comprising:

an communications interface;

a memory system;

a processor; and

an interconnection mechanism coupling the communications interface, the memory system, and the processor;

wherein the memory system is configured with a bandwidth manager application, that when performed on the processor, provides a bandwidth manager process that manages the use of a communications channel of a network by a network application, the communications channel utilizing bandwidth allocated by the network communications device in the network, the bandwidth manager process performing the operations of;

detecting activity of the network application indicating that a new communications session will be established requiring a first anticipated change in bandwidth allocated to the communications channel;

calculating a first new value for an allocated bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the network application activity;

negotiating with the network communications device to adjust a bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the first new value of the allocated bandwidth setting to effect the first anticipated change in the bandwidth allocated to the communications channel;

detecting a second event indicating a second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement of a communications channel;

calculating a second new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the second event; and

further adjusting the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the second new value of the bandwidth setting such that communications channel accommodates the second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement.

27. In a communications device, the communications device being a browser enabled device, a method for dynamically adjusting bandwidth of a communications channel, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting a first event indicating a first anticipated change in a bandwidth requirement of the communications channel, the first event indicating a browser event requiring a browser in the communications device to access content from a remote computer system;

calculating a first new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the first event, the first new value of the bandwidth setting of the communications channel being calculated to accommodate additional bandwidth used to receive the content from the remote computer system, calculating a first new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the first event further comprising;

determining if the bandwidth event contains a bandwidth determination factor, and if the bandwidth event contains a bandwidth determination factor;

i) extracting the bandwidth determination factor from the bandwidth event; and

ii) calculating the new value for the bandwidth setting based on the bandwidth determination factor;

and if the bandwidth event contains a bandwidth determination factor, adjusting the bandwidth setting to at least one of a next higher level and a next lower level based on the bandwidth event;

adjusting a bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the first new value of the bandwidth setting such that the communications channel can accommodate the first anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement;

detecting a second event indicating a second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement of a communications channel;

calculating a second new value for a bandwidth setting of the communications channel in response to detecting the second event; and

further adjusting the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel according to the second new value of the bandwidth setting such that communications channel accommodates the second anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement, the first bandwidth event indicating an increased anticipated change in the bandwidth requirement of the communications channel and the second bandwidth event indicates a decreased anticipated change in the bandwidth requirements of the communications channel, the first new value of the bandwidth setting being greater than a former value of the bandwidth setting and the second new value of the bandwidth setting being less than the first new value of the bandwidth setting, such that;

i) the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel is dynamically adjusted to raise the bandwidth of the communications channel in response to the first bandwidth event; and

ii) the bandwidth characteristic of the communications channel is dynamically adjusted to lower the bandwidth of the communications channel in response to the second bandwidth event, the first bandwidth event indicating a browser event for at least one of;

i) a beginning of a communications session;

ii) a beginning of content processing;

and wherein the second bandwidth event indicating a browser event for at least one of;

i) an end of a communications session;

ii) an end of content processing; and

iii) a timeout associated with an earlier bandwidth event.