Packet messaging method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A packet message source comprising:
- means arranged to include a respective packet message payload in each packet message of a sequence of packet messages;
means arranged to associate a priority label with each successive packet message in said sequence in accordance with a predetermined cyclic sequence of such labels;
said priority labels each representing one of a plurality of priority levels and the positions of the labels in the cyclic sequence being controlled to maximize the number of consecutive labels having a lower priority than a nearest other label in the sequence of equal or higher priority with a label of a given priority occurring only once in each cycle; and
means arranged to send such packet messages.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Each packet message in a sequence of packet messages is sent with an associated packet message priority label in accordance with a predetermined cyclic sequence of such labels. These priority labels each represent one of a plurality of priority levels and the position of each label in the cyclic sequence is such that number of consecutive lower priority labels between that label and the nearest label of equal or higher priority is substantially maximized. In this way, if packet messages are dropped from the sequence due to congestion on a priority basis, the packet messaging method and apparatus according to the invention ensure that, as far as possible, regular update packet messages are still received from all packet message sources.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A packet message source comprising:
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means arranged to include a respective packet message payload in each packet message of a sequence of packet messages; means arranged to associate a priority label with each successive packet message in said sequence in accordance with a predetermined cyclic sequence of such labels;
said priority labels each representing one of a plurality of priority levels and the positions of the labels in the cyclic sequence being controlled to maximize the number of consecutive labels having a lower priority than a nearest other label in the sequence of equal or higher priority with a label of a given priority occurring only once in each cycle; andmeans arranged to send such packet messages. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A packet messaging system comprising:
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a plurality of packet message sources each comprising; means arranged to include a respective packet message payload in each packet message of a sequence of packet messages; and means arranged to send such packet messages; and a communications link interface comprising; an input port for receiving packet messages from said plurality of packet message sources; means arranged to read a priority label associated with each received packet message; a queue for queuing packet messages in descending order of respective allocated priority labels;
successive packets, considered in said sequence at each one of said plurality of packet message sources, having been allocated said priority labels in accordance with a predetermined cyclic sequence of such labels;
said priority labels each representing one of a plurality of priority levels and the positions of the labels in the cyclic sequence being controlled to maximize the number of consecutive labels having a lower priority than a nearest other label in the sequence of equal or higher priority with a label of a given priority occurring only once in each cycle; andan output port for sending each packet message at the head of said queue onto a communications link.
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10. A method of packet messaging comprising:
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including a respective packet message payload in each packet message of a sequence of packet messages; associating a priority label with each successive packet message of said sequence in accordance with a predetermined cyclic sequence of such labels;
said priority labels each representing one of a plurality of priority levels and the positions of the labels in the cyclic sequence being controlled to maximize the number of consecutive labels having a lower priority than a nearest other label in the sequence of equal or higher priority with a label of a given priority occurring only once in each cycle; andsending such packet messages. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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11. A method of operating a packet messaging system including a plurality of packet message sources and a communications link interface, said method comprising:
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allocating successive packets, considered in their original sequence at each one of the packet message sources, priority labels in accordance with a predetermined cyclic sequence of such labels;
said priority labels each representing one of a plurality of priority levels and the positions of the labels in the cyclic sequence being controlled to maximize the number of consecutive labels having a lower priority than a nearest other label in the sequence of equal or higher priority with a label of a given priority occurring only once in each cycle;queuing said packet messages in a queue in descending order of respective allocated priority labels at said communications link interface; and sending each packet message at the head of said queue onto a communications link.
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Specification