Dynamic content based multicast routing in mobile networks

• US 7,293,109 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2002
• Issued: 11/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Semandex Networks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Semandex Networks, Inc.
• Inventors: Reininger, Daniel J., French, Leslie, Ott, Maximilian, Raychaudhuri, Dipankar
• Primary Examiner(s): Cardone; Jason
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, MINH CHAU
• Application Number:
  US10/271,502
• Publication Number:
  US 20030120817A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,848 Days
• Field of Search: 709/218, 709/219, 709/242, 709/249
• US Class Current: 709/249
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/18 for broadcast or conference , e.g. multicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1859 adapted to provide push services, e.g. data channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1881 with schedule organisation, e.g. priority, sequence management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/189 in combination with wireless systems selective distribution or broadcast in wireless communication networks H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/308 Route determination based on user's profile, e.g. premium users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/12 based on transmission quality or channel quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/20 based on geographic position or location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/30 for proactive routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/36 due to handover

Abstract

The present invention changes the wireless information service paradigm from a connection-oriented unicast network model to a dynamic content-driven multicast model using a technique called “content routing.” The present invention provides a system, method, and medium for routing content through a network from at least one content provider to at least one content consumer, wherein at least one of the content consumer or content provider communicate with the network using a wireless device. The content is routed though the network based on its content. The content is labeled with at least one content descriptor. The content descriptor characterizes or otherwise describes the content. Interest profiles are received from content consumers. Interest profiles from content consumers with a common network access point are aggregated into a single interest profile. Interest profiles can include more than the wireless consumers stated interest, such as for example, a content consumer'"'"'s geographic location, the capabilities of the wireless terminal, type of service, policy preferences, and the like. Single interest profiles are shared across neighboring network access points to create a content routing table. Content, labeled with at least one descriptor, is routed through the network to content consumers based, in part, on content routing tables created from wireless content consumers'"'"'profiles.

Claims

1. A method for routing content through a network based on its content from at least one content provider to at least one content consumer, wherein the at least one content consumer using a wireless device is in wireless communication with the network via at least one of a plurality of access points, said method comprising:

receiving an interest profile for a content consumer each time the content consumer establishes contact with the network via one of the plurality of access points, the interest profile includes information that identifies a content consumer'"'"'s interest in receiving content;

aggregating the received interest profile with interest profiles of other content consumers each time an interest profile is received from the content consumer;

exchanging said aggregated interest profiles with neighboring network nodes;

receiving a semantic packet wherein the semantic packet includes content and at least one content descriptor; and

forwarding said content to said content consumer based on at least a comparison between the at least one content descriptor included in the semantic packet and said received interest profile from said content consumer.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising receiving the interest profile from the content consumer in an interest profile update message, wherein said interest profile update message comprises information based on the geographic location of the wireless device.

3. The method according to claim 2 further comprising determining when to transfer a wireless content consumer'"'"'s interest profile to a new one of the plurality of access points within the network, wherein said determination is based on radio link level information received at the current one of the plurality of access points from the wireless device.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising delivering content to the content consumer'"'"'s wireless device from the new one of the plurality of access points to the network.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising creating a content routing table, wherein said content routing table is capable of routing said content through the network and wherein said content routing table is created dynamically based on the aggregated interest profiles.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein forwarding said content and said at least one content descriptor to a wireless device comprises comparing incoming content and said at least one content descriptor with the content routing table.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the step of aggregating said interest profile from said content consumer and creating the routing table is distributed throughout the network.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein said interest profile is expressed in the XML programming language.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein said interest profile is aggregated with said at least one additional interest profile into a compact representation.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving a capacity profile wherein said capacity profile represents both the capacity of the wireless device and the capacity of a link connecting the wireless device to the network.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising using information contained in the capacity profile to dynamically transform content to fit the capabilities of the wireless device.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein said interest profile changes as a function of at least one of geographic location of the wireless device, usage mode of the wireless device, the wireless device capacity, or combinations thereof.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein said interest profile changes are detected by the one of the plurality of access points of at least one of said content consumer or content provider to the network, wherein the one of the plurality of access points changes the interest profile based on at least said detected changes.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein said content is sensor content from a wireless sensor network and said at least one content descriptor is at least one attribute of a sensor device in said wireless sensor network.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein said interest profile from said content consumer comprises at least one query of said wireless sensor network.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein said content descriptor is selected from at least one of hierarchically organized ontologies or hierarchically organized taxonomies.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein said content descriptor is expressed in the XML programming language.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of generating a single interest profile balances the amount of storage and processing used at a each network node and the amount of information leakage at each network node by controlling the degree to which content descriptors and interest profiles match.

19. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving a policy profile wherein said policy profile restricts the type of content that can be received by said content consumer'"'"'s wireless device independent of the content consumer'"'"'s interest profile.

20. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving a policy profile wherein said policy profile comprises information to dynamically transform content to fit at least one dissemination policy of said content consumer.

21. The method according to claim 1, further comprising limiting the scope of queries from the content consumer based on the congestion level of the network.

22. The method according to claim 1, further comprising prioritizing content delivery to the content consumer based on a class assignment associated with said content consumer.

23. The method according to claim 1, further comprising prioritizing content delivery to said content consumer based on environmental parameters and system resources including at least one of content consumer access modality, cognitive posture, wireless bandwidth availability or terminal information processing load.

24. A system for routing content through a network based on content from at least one content provider to at least one content consumer, wherein the at least one content consumer using a wireless device is in wireless communication with the network, the system comprising:

at least one content server, wherein said at least one content server is capable of providing content and at least one content descriptor, wherein said content is labeled with said at least one content descriptor, and wherein said at least one content descriptor is capable of describing the content available from the content provider;

a plurality of content routers wherein at least one of the plurality of content routers transmits the content labeled with the at least one content descriptor into the network;

a plurality of access routers, wherein at least one content consumer is associated with at least one of said plurality of access routers through a wireless link, said at least one of said plurality of access routers receives an interest profile for a content consumer each time the content consumer establishes contact with the network via one of the plurality of access routers the interest profile includes information that identifies a content consumer'"'"'s interest in receiving content, aggregates the received interest profile with interest profiles of other content consumers each time an interest profile is received from the content consumer, exchanges said aggregated interest profiles with neighboring access routers, receives a semantic packet wherein the semantic packet includes content and at least one content descriptor and forwards said content to said content consumer based on at least a comparison between the at least one content descriptor included in the semantic packet and said received interest profile from said content consumer.

25. The system according to claim 24, wherein each of said plurality of access routers is capable of supporting at least one of local cache services or data broadcasting services based on aggregated interest profiles stored at each of said plurality of access routers.

27. The system according to claim 24, wherein the plurality of content routers comprises a plurality of dual-stack routers, wherein said plurality of dual-stack routers are capable of both content routing and IP address routing.

26. A computer readable medium for storing computer executable instructions for routing content through a network based on its content from at least one content provider to at least one content consumer, wherein the at least one content consumer using a wireless device is in wireless communication with the network via at least one of a plurality of access points, said executable instructions comprising:

receiving an interest profile for a content consumer each time the content consumer establishes contact with the network via one of the plurality of access points, the interest profile includes information that identifies a content consumer'"'"'s interest in receiving content;

aggregating the received interest profile with interest profiles of other content consumers each time an interest profile is received from the content consumer;

exchanging said aggregated interest profiles with neighboring network nodes;

receiving a semantic packet wherein the semantic packet includes content and at least one content descriptor; and

forwarding said content to said content consumer based on at least a comparison between the at least one content descriptor included in the semantic packet and said received interest profile from said content consumer.

28. A system for routing content from at least one content provider through an IP network to at least one content consumer'"'"'s wireless device, wherein said content is routed through the IP network based on content descriptors associated with said content and wherein at least one of said content consumer using a wireless device is in wireless communication with the network, said system comprising:

an IP network;

at least one content server in communication with said IP network, wherein said at least one content server is capable of providing content and at least one content descriptor, wherein said content is labeled with said at least one content descriptor, and wherein said at least one content descriptor is capable of describing the content available from the content provider and wherein said at least one content server comprises;

a content delivery middleware,

a content multicast socket, and

a transport service interface;

a plurality of content routers in communication with said IP network, wherein at least one of the plurality of content routers transmits the content wherein said content is labeled with the at least one content descriptor into the IP network and wherein said each of said plurality of content routers comprises;

a content delivery middleware, and

a transport service interface;

a wireless link;

a plurality of access routers in communication with said IP network and a wireless link, wherein at least one content consumer is associated with at least one of said plurality of access routers through a wireless link, said at least one of said plurality of access routers receives an interest profile for a content consumer each time the content consumer establishes contact with the network via one of the plurality of access routers, the interest profile includes information that identifies a content consumer'"'"'s interest in receiving content, aggregates the received interest profile with interest profiles of other content consumers each time an interest profile is received from the content consumer, exchanges said aggregated interest profiles with neighboring access routers, receives a semantic packet wherein the semantic packet includes content and at least one content descriptor and forwards said content to said content consumer based on at least a comparison between the at least one content descriptor included in the semantic packet and said received interest profile from said content consumer, said plurality of access routers comprising;

a content delivery middleware, and

a transport service interface;

at least one wireless terminal in communication with said a wireless link, said wireless terminal comprising;

a content delivery middleware,

a content multicast socket, and

a transport service interface.

29. An access router for routing content through a network based on its content from at least one content provider to at least one content consumer, wherein the at least one content consumer using a wireless device is in wireless communication with the network via at least one of a plurality of access points, said access router comprising:

means for receiving an interest profile for a content consumer each time the content consumer establishes contact with the network via one of the plurality of access points, the interest profile includes information that identifies a content consumer'"'"'s interest in receiving content;

means for aggregating the received interest profile with interest profiles of other content consumers each time an interest profile is received from the content consumer;

means for exchanging said aggregated interest profiles with neighboring network nodes;

means for receiving a semantic packet wherein the semantic packet includes content and at least one content descriptor; and

means for forwarding said content to said content consumer based on at least a comparison between the at least one content descriptor included in the semantic packet and said received interest profile from said content consumer.