Methods and devices for regulating traffic on a network

• US 7,627,675 B2
• Filed: 05/01/2003
• Issued: 12/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bernstein, Alon, Leano, Chrisanto
• Primary Examiner(s): Lin; Kenny S
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRUONG, LAN DAI T
• Application Number:
  US10/428,865
• Publication Number:
  US 20040221032A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,406 Days
• Field of Search: 709223-225, 709/226, 709232-235, 370/235, 370/395.4, 370/468, 370/230.1, 370/352, 370/229
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/215 using token-bucket
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2458 Modification of priorities while in transit

Abstract

Methods and devices are provided for regulating traffic on a network. According to some aspects of the invention, if a subscriber'"'"'s upstream traffic exceeds a predetermined level over a first period of time, the subscriber'"'"'s quality of service is adjusted without requiring the subscriber to re-register. According to some embodiments, a first token bucket is used to determine whether the subscriber'"'"'s upstream traffic exceeds the predetermined level over the first period of time. In some such embodiments, the first token bucket is used to control the burst size of another token bucket, depending on the subscriber'"'"'s upstream traffic during the first period of time.

Claims

1. A method of controlling upstream bandwidth utilization of a cable modem in a cable network, the cable modem having an original service level, wherein the method is implemented on a programmable machine on the cable network, the method comprising:

using a first token bucket having a first capacity B1 for first tokens, each first token authorizing the network subscriber to transmit a unit of data, the first tokens added to the token bucket at a rate R1 that equals the first capacity B1 divided by a first time period T1;

controlling the first token bucket by using a second token bucket having a second capacity B2 for second tokens added to the second token bucket at a second rate R2 that equals the second capacity B2 divided by a second time period T2 greater than T1, to measure upstream bandwidth utilization,

wherein said second token bucket has a time period T2 that is at least 100 times larger than the time period T1 of the first token bucket, and

wherein said second token bucket has a second capacity B2 that is at least 100 times larger than the first capacity B1 of the first token bucket;

wherein the controlling is based, at least in part, upon a determination of whether the subscriber'"'"'s upstream traffic exceeds a predetermined level over a predetermined period of time based on the cable modem'"'"'s original service level;

informing a cable modem termination system (CMTS) if the cable modem is transmitting excessive amounts of data upstream, thereby potentially exceeding an amount allowed in the original service level; and

implementing a modified service level for the cable modem based on an upstream bandwidth utilization of the cable modem, wherein the modified service level is applied directly to the cable modem using the first token bucket and the second token bucket, thereby eliminating the need for the cable modem to re-register with the CMTS.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

transmitting a warning message to a user if the upstream bandwidth utilization exceeds the original service level.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

increasing payment requirements of a user if the upstream bandwidth utilization exceeds the original service level.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

decreasing payment requirements of the user if the upstream bandwidth utilization is consistently below the original service level.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

modifying service attributes of a user if the upstream bandwidth utilization exceeds the original service level.

6. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein implementing a modified service level further comprises maintaining a current login session and applying the modified service level directly to the cable modem.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said second token bucket capacity B2 is equal to the size of a token S2 used in the second token bucket, and wherein only one token flows into the second token bucket during each time period T2.

8. An apparatus for controlling upstream bandwidth utilization of a cable modem user in a cable network, the cable modem having an original service level, the apparatus comprising:

means for using a first token bucket having a first capacity B1 for first tokens, each first token authorizing the network subscriber to transmit a unit of data, the first tokens added to the token bucket at a rate R1 that equals the first capacity B1 divided by a first time period T1;

means for controlling the first token bucket by using a second token bucket having a second capacity B2 for second tokens added to the second token bucket at a second rate R2 that equals the second capacity B2 divided by a second time period T2 greater than T1, to measure upstream bandwidth utilization,

wherein said second token bucket has a time period T2 that is at least 100 times larger than the time period T1 of the first token bucket, and

wherein said second token bucket has a second capacity B2 that is at least 100 times larger than the first capacity B1 of the first token bucket;

wherein the controlling is based, at least in part, upon a determination of whether the subscriber'"'"'s upstream traffic exceeds a predetermined level over a predetermined period of time based on the cable modem'"'"'s original service level;

means for informing a cable modem termination system (CMTS) if the cable modem is transmitting excessive amounts of data upstream, thereby potentially exceeding an amount allowed in the original service level; and

means for implementing a modified service level for the cable modem based on an upstream bandwidth utilization of the cable modem, wherein the modified service level is applied directly to the cable modem using the first token bucket and the second token bucket, thereby eliminating the need for the cable modem to re-register with the CMTS.

9. An apparatus as recited in claim 8 further comprising:

means for transmitting a warning message to a user if the upstream bandwidth utilization exceeds the original service level.

10. An apparatus as recited in claim 8 further comprising:

means for increasing payment requirements of a user if the upstream bandwidth utilization exceeds the original service level.

11. An apparatus as recited in claim 8 further comprising:

means for decreasing payment requirements of the user if the upstream bandwidth utilization is consistently below the original service level.

12. An apparatus as recited in claim 8 further comprising:

means for modifying service attributes of a user if the upstream bandwidth utilization exceeds the original service level.

13. An apparatus as recited in claim 8 wherein means for implementing a modified service level further comprises:

means for maintaining a current login session and applying the modified service level directly to the cable modem.

14. A method implemented on a programmable machine on a cable network, the method comprising:

regulating upstream traffic and controlling bandwidth utilization of a network subscriber by using a first token bucket having a first capacity B1 for first tokens, each first token authorizing the network subscriber to transmit a unit of data, the first tokens added to the token bucket at a rate R1 that equals the first capacity B1 divided by a first time period T1;

controlling the first token bucket by using a second token bucket having a second capacity B2 for second tokens added to the second token bucket at a second rate R2 that equals the second capacity B2 divided by a second time period T2 greater than T1,

wherein said second token bucket has a time period T2 that is at least 100 times larger than the time period T1 of the first token bucket, and

wherein said second token bucket has a second capacity B2 that is at least 100 times larger than the first capacity B1 of the first token bucket;

wherein the controlling is based, at least in part, upon a determination of whether the subscriber'"'"'s upstream traffic exceeds a predetermined level over a predetermined period of time.

15. A method implemented on a programmable machine on the cable network, the method comprising:

regulating upstream traffic and controlling bandwidth utilization of a network subscriber by using a first token bucket having a first capacity B1 for first tokens, each first token authorizing the network subscriber to transmit a unit of data, the first tokens added to the token bucket at a rate R1 that equals the first capacity B1 divided by a first time period T1;

controlling the first token bucket by using a second token bucket having a second capacity B2 for second tokens added to the second token bucket at a second rate R2 that equals the second capacity B2 divided by a second time period T2 greater than T1,

wherein said second token bucket has a time period T2 that is at least 100 times larger than the time period T1 of the first token bucket, and

wherein said second token bucket has a second capacity B2 that is at least 100 times larger than the first capacity B1 of the first token bucket, and

wherein the controlling is based, at least in part, upon a determination of whether the subscriber'"'"'s upstream traffic exceeds a predetermined level over a predetermined period of time, and

wherein the controlling comprises changing the network subscriber'"'"'s priority of service according to the determination.

16. A method implemented on a programmable machine on a cable network, the method comprising:

regulating upstream traffic and controlling bandwidth utilization of a network subscriber by using a first token bucket having a first capacity B1 for first tokens, each first token authorizing the network subscriber to transmit a unit of data, the first tokens added to the token bucket at a rate R1 that equals the first capacity B1 divided by a first time period T1;

controlling the first token bucket by using a second token bucket having a second capacity B2 for second tokens added to the second token bucket at a second rate R2 that equals the second capacity B2 divided by a second time period T2 greater than T1,

wherein said second token bucket has a time period T2 that is at least 100 times larger than the time period T1 of the first token bucket, and

wherein said second token bucket has a second capacity B2 that is at least 100 times larger than the first capacity B1 of the first token bucket, and

wherein the controlling is based, at least in part, upon a determination of whether the subscriber'"'"'s upstream traffic exceeds a predetermined level over a predetermined period of time, and

wherein the controlling comprises increasing payment requirements of a user if the upstream bandwidth utilization exceeds the original service level.

17. A method implemented on a programmable machine on a cable network, the method comprising:

regulating upstream traffic and controlling bandwidth utilization of a network subscriber by using a first token bucket having a first capacity B1 for first tokens, each first token authorizing the network subscriber to transmit a unit of data, the first tokens added to the token bucket at a rate R1 that equals the first capacity B1 divided by a first time period T1;

controlling the first token bucket by using a second token bucket having a second capacity B2 for second tokens added to the second token bucket at a second rate R2 that equals the second capacity B2 divided by a second time period T2 greater than T1,

wherein said second token bucket has a time period T2 that is at least 100 times larger than the time period T1 of the first token bucket, and

wherein said second token bucket has a second capacity B2 that is at least 100 times larger than the first capacity B1 of the first token bucket, and

wherein the controlling is based, at least in part, upon a determination of whether the subscriber'"'"'s upstream traffic exceeds a predetermined level over a predetermined period of time, and

wherein the controlling comprises implementing a modified service level for the network subscriber and applying the modified service level while maintaining a current login session of the network subscriber.