Method for reducing congestion in packet-switched networks

• US 7,227,843 B2
• Filed: 02/24/2003
• Issued: 06/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Caceres, Ramon, Bellovin, Steven Michael, Nagel, David C., Belanger, David Gerald
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Chi
• Assistant Examiner(s): ABELSON, RONALD B
• Application Number:
  US10/372,624
• Publication Number:
  US 20030137938A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,562 Days
• Field of Search: 370229-232, 370235-2381, 370/351, 370/352, 370/389, 370/392
• US Class Current: 370/237
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1489 dependent on congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1496 involving discounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/11 Identifying congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/28 in relation to timing considerations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS

Abstract

The present invention permits a network service provider to detect an operational condition—such as congestion—in a packet-switched network and to alleviate such congestion by providing customer incentives to avoid use of the network. The detection mechanism triggers an incentive such as the modification of the user'"'"'s access charges and the customer can be immediately notified of either the occurrence of the congestion or of information regarding the incentive. Usage of the network during congested periods can be deterred by imposing additional access charges during such periods—similarly, customers can be given a discount to encourage usage during periods of low congestion. An incentive schedule can be tailored to dynamically change the usage patterns of the customers of the network to accommodate the operational conditions in the network. The present invention has application in the Internet, where a detection/notification mechanism, for example, can be implemented in a network node such as a router or in a network endpoint such as a client machine or a proxy or mail server.

Claims

1. A method, for use by a network access service provider to alleviate an undesired operational condition in the network, said method comprising the steps of:

detecting the undesired operational condition in a tamper-resistant modern at a network endpoint, the tamper-resistant module supplied by the network access service provider for generating billing data;

determining current usage of the network by a customer by evaluating billing data from the tamper-resistant modem; and

providing a financial incentive to the customer already on the network to use the network at another time when the undesired operational condition is not present.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the financial incentive is a modification in an access charge collected by the network access service provider from the customer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the undesired operational condition is congestion in the network.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein congestion is detected by determining that a packet has been dropped in the network.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein congestion is detected by determining that the tamper-resistant modem at the network endpoint has failed to receive an acknowledgment in reply to sending a packet.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein congestion is detected by determining that the tamper-resistant modem at the network endpoint has received a packet out of sequence.

7. The method of claim 3 wherein congestion is detected by determining the size of a buffer queue of the tamper-resistant modem at the network endpoint.

8. The method of claim 3 wherein congestion is detected by determining that a packet has been marked by explicit congestion notification.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

providing an access charge discount incentive notification to the customer already on the network to use the network at another time when the undesired operational condition is not present.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

providing an access charge premium dis-incentive to the customer already on the network in order to allow the customer to use the network when the undesired operational condition is present.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the network is a packet-switched network.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the network is a hybrid network.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the network uses the Internet protocol suite.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the network uses a multicast communication protocol.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein the network is the Internet.