Method and system for using Bayesian network inference for selection of transport protocol algorithm

• US 7,672,240 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2006
• Issued: 03/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Johnson, Darrin P., Marcondes, Cesar A. C., Persson, Anders D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Chi H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MEW, KEVIN D
• Application Number:
  US11/639,042
• Publication Number:
  US 20080144663A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,174 Days
• Field of Search: 370/230, 370/230.1, 370/231, 370/232, 370/233, 370/234, 370/235, 370/237, 370/238, 370/465, 370/466, 370/468, 370/469
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 7/01 Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/163 In-band adaptation of TCP data exchange; In-band control procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/323 in the physical layer [OSI layer 1]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/325 in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25 H04L69/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/326 in the transport layer [OSI layer 4] H04L69/16 takes precedence

Abstract

A method for optimizing a network stack includes inputting network information into a transport protocol algorithm selector, inputting a first transport protocol algorithm into the transport protocol algorithm selector, analyzing a result of the transport protocol algorithm selector, selecting the first transport protocol algorithm based on the result, receiving a first packet in the network stack, and processing the first packet using the first transport protocol algorithm.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium comprising computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer system to perform a method for optimizing a network stack, the method comprising:

inputting network information into a transport protocol algorithm selector;

inputting a first transport protocol algorithm into the transport protocol algorithm selector,

wherein the transport protocol algorithm selector uses a Bayesian network, and

wherein the Bayesian network comprises a plurality of nodes, wherein each of the nodes is one selected from a group consisting of the first transport protocol algorithm and one of a plurality of network conditions;

analyzing a result of the transport protocol algorithm selector;

selecting the first transport protocol algorithm based on the result;

receiving a first packet in the network stack; and

processing the first packet using the first transport protocol algorithm.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising:

mining a network characteristic from the network information using an inline estimator on the network stack;

generating an estimate of the network characteristic using the inline estimator; and

updating the transport protocol algorithm selector based on the estimate.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an optimality of the first transport protocol algorithm;

selecting a second transport protocol algorithm based on the optimality of the first transport protocol algorithm;

receiving a second packet in the network stack; and

processing the second packet using the second transport protocol algorithm.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 3, further comprising:

resetting the transport protocol algorithm selector based on the optimality of the first transport protocol algorithm.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the result is obtained using an anytime inference algorithm.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the plurality of network conditions include at least one selected from a group consisting of a system load, a round trip time, a path bandwidth, a buffer size, a loss rate, and an available bandwidth.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the result comprises a leaf node in the Bayesian network.

8. A computer system for selecting a transport protocol algorithm, comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a network stack executing on the processor and comprising network information;

a transport protocol algorithm selector executing on the processor and configured to;

supply, to a Bayesian network, a plurality of inputs corresponding to a plurality of network conditions based on the network information and the transport protocol algorithm, wherein the plurality of inputs correspond to a plurality of root nodes in the Bayesian network; and

calculate a plurality of outputs corresponding to a plurality of results, wherein the plurality of outputs correspond to a plurality of leaf nodes in the Bayesian network,

wherein the plurality of results is used to select the transport protocol algorithm for use on the network stack.

9. The computer system of claim 8, further comprising:

an inline estimator on the network stack,

wherein the inline estimator is used to mine a network characteristic of the network stack and generate an estimate of the network characteristic, and

wherein the estimate is used to update the transport protocol algorithm selector.

10. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of results is obtained using an anytime inference algorithm.

11. The computer system of claim 8, wherein an inline estimator is used to determine an optimality of the first transport protocol algorithm, and wherein a second transport protocol algorithm is used on the network stack based on the optimality of the first transport protocol algorithm.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the transport protocol algorithm selector is reset based on the optimality of the first transport protocol algorithm.

13. A computer readable medium comprising computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer system to perform a method for optimizing a network stack, the method comprising:

inputting network information into a transport protocol algorithm selector;

inputting a first transport protocol algorithm into the transport protocol algorithm selector, wherein the transport protocol algorithm selector uses a Bayesian network, and;

analyzing a result of the transport protocol algorithm selector, wherein the result comprises a leaf node in the Bayesian network;

selecting the first transport protocol algorithm based on the result;

receiving a first packet in the network stack; and

processing the first packet using the first transport protocol algorithm.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, further comprising:

mining a network characteristic from the network information using an inline estimator on the network stack;

generating an estimate of the network characteristic using the inline estimator; and

updating the transport protocol algorithm selector based on the estimate.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 13, further comprising:

determining an optimality of the first transport protocol algorithm;

selecting a second transport protocol algorithm based on the optimality of the first transport protocol algorithm;

receiving a second packet in the network stack; and

processing the second packet using the second transport protocol algorithm.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, farther comprising:

resetting the transport protocol algorithm selector based on the optimality of the first transport protocol algorithm.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the result is obtained using an anytime inference algorithm.