Multiplexed data transmissions through a communication link

• US 7,839,890 B1
• Filed: 11/02/2000
• Issued: 11/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Chatkoff, Teresa A., Neitzel, Lee A., Peterson, Neil J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh; Ayaz R
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEE, ANDREW CHUNG CHEUNG
• Application Number:
  US09/704,936
• Time in Patent Office: 3,673 Days
• Field of Search: 370/468, 370/410, 370/229, 370/230, 370/235, 370/236, 370/428, 370/412, 370/395, 370/395.4, 370/395.41, 370/395.42, 370/395.43, 370/395.2
• US Class Current: 370/468
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0407 using a stored programme control
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13103 Memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13106 Microprocessor, CPU
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13164 Traffic (registration, measurement,...)
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13166 Fault prevention
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13196 Connection circuit/link/trunk/junction, bridge, router, gateway
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13204 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13213 Counting, timing circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1325 Priority service
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13292 Time division multiplexing, TDM
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13299 Bus
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13332 Broadband, CATV, dynamic bandwidth allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13333 Earth satellites
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13349 Network management
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0066 Bandwidth allocation or management

Abstract

A communication technique enables the efficient transmission of data through a communication link having a large delay bandwidth product and/or a high bit error rate. The communication technique multiplexes data from one or more data sources through a plurality of communication connections to increase the overall throughput and to reduce the average data transfer delay of the communication link. Each communication connection has a set of communication connection parameters that may be uniquely configured so that each connection carries a particular type of data at a particular effective priority level. Each communication connection may be uniquely configured to have a particular sending buffer size, to deliver messages having a particular length to an underlying layer and to send the messages into the link at a particular rate to orchestrate the manner in which the communication connections send data through the link.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting data through a communication link having a bandwidth using a plurality of communication connections via the communication link, the method comprising the steps of:

associating each one of a plurality of worker objects for each one of the plurality of communication connections, wherein each worker object comprises an abstraction that represents collections of methods or processes and each worker object is encapsulated along with data needed to carry out the method or process of the worker object;

distributing the data amongst the worker objects;

forming messages using the distributed data within each respective worker object of the plurality of worker objects, based on a parameter of the respective worker object;

wherein a first worker object has a first parameter value configured to establish a first respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth and a second worker object has a second parameter value configured to establish a second respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth which is different from the first respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth;

delivering the messages formed within each worker object to an underlying layer of the plurality of communication connections so that each communication connection uses no more than the respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth; and

allocating the predetermined portion of the bandwidth to each of the plurality of communication connections.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of allocating the predetermined portion of the bandwidth to each of the plurality of communication connections includes the step of allocating different predetermined portions of the bandwidth to two of the plurality of communication connections.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of allocating the predetermined portion of the bandwidth to each of the plurality of communication connections includes the step of setting a time between calls parameter for each of the plurality of communication connections.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of allocating the predetermined portion of the bandwidth to each of the plurality of communication connections includes the step of setting a message size parameter for each of the plurality of communication connections.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of allocating the predetermined portion of the bandwidth to each of the plurality of communication connections includes the step of setting a sending buffer size for each of the plurality of communication connections.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of associating the worker object for each one of the plurality of communication connections includes the step of using the worker object to produce one of the plurality of communication connections.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of partitioning the data to form a plurality of partitioned data streams prior to distributing the data to the worker objects.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of partitioning the data to form the plurality of partitioned data streams prior to distributing the data amongst the worker objects includes the step of partitioning the data based on a type of data.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of partitioning the data to form the plurality of partitioned data streams includes the step of establishing a one-to-one correspondence between the plurality of partitioned data streams and the worker objects.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of distributing the data to the worker objects includes the step of transferring a subset of the data to one of the worker objects in response to a request for data from the one worker object.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of distributing the data to the worker objects includes the step of using a data transmission object.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming the messages using the distributed data within each worker object includes the step of forming the messages within each worker object using a parameter of the worker object that controls the size of the messages.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of delivering the messages formed within one of the worker objects includes the step of delivering the messages formed within the one worker object to the underlying layer based on a parameter of the one worker object that affects the rate at which the messages are delivered to the underlying layer.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of delivering the messages formed within the one worker object to the underlying layer based on the parameter of the one worker object that affects the rate at which the messages are delivered to the underlying layer includes the step of using a time between calls parameter.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of allocating the predetermined portion of the bandwidth to each of the plurality of communication connections includes the step of setting a message size parameter and a time between calls parameter for each of the plurality of communication connections.

16. A system for transmitting data through a communication link having a bandwidth using a plurality of communication connections via a communication link, the system comprising:

a communication object that distributes the data amongst the plurality of communication connections; and

a plurality of worker objects, wherein each worker object is associated with one of the plurality of communication connections and is configured to form messages using the data distributed to the communication connection associated with that worker object based on a parameter of that worker object, and wherein each worker object comprises an abstraction that represents collections of methods or processes and each worker object is encapsulated along with data needed to carry out the method or process of the worker object,

wherein a first worker object has a first parameter value configured to establish a first respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth and a second worker object has a second parameter value configured to establish a second respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth which is different from the first respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth, and

wherein each worker object is configured to deliver the messages formed within that worker object to an underlying layer of the plurality of communication connections so that each communication connection uses no more than the respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth allocated to that communication connection.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of worker objects is adapted to produce a communication connection.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the communication object

transfers a portion of the data to one of the plurality of worker objects in response to a request for data from the one worker object.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the communication object is a data transmission object.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of worker objects includes a set of uniquely configurable communication parameters.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the set of uniquely configurable communication parameters includes a parameter that controls the size of the messages.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the set of uniquely configurable communication parameters includes a parameter that controls the rate at which the messages are delivered to the underlying layer.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the parameter that controls the rate at which the messages are delivered to the underlying layer is a time between calls parameter.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein the set of uniquely configurable communication parameters includes a parameter that controls a buffer size.

25. The system of claim 16, wherein the communication object partitions the data to form a plurality of partitioned data streams prior to distributing the data to the plurality of communication connections.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the communication process partitions the data based on a type of data.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the communication object establishes a one to one correspondence between the plurality of partitioned data streams and the plurality of worker objects.

28. A system for transmitting data through a communication link using a plurality of communication connections via the communication link having a bandwidth, the system comprising:

a communication process configured to partition the data to form a plurality of partitioned data streams; and

a plurality of worker processes, wherein each one of the plurality of worker processes is configured to have a set of uniquely configurable communication parameters, is configured to receive the partitioned data from the communication process, is configured to form messages using the partitioned data, is configured to deliver the messages containing the partitioned data to an underlying layer of the plurality of communication connections based on the set of uniquely configurable communication parameters for that worker process, and is configured as an abstraction that represents collections of methods or processes, each worker process encapsulated along with data needed to carry out the method or process of the worker process,

wherein a first worker object has a first parameter value configured to establish a first respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth and a second worker object has a second parameter value configured to establish a second respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth which is different from the first respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the communication process is based on a data transmission object.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the communication process partitions the data based on a type of data.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein each of the plurality of worker processes is based on a worker object.

32. The system of claim 28, wherein the set of uniquely configurable communication parameters includes a parameter that controls the rate at which the messages are delivered to the underlying layer.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the parameter that controls the rate at which the messages are delivered to the underlying layer is a time between calls parameter.

34. The system of claim 28, wherein the set of uniquely configurable communication parameters includes a message size parameter.

35. The system of claim 28, wherein the set of uniquely configurable communication parameters includes a sending buffer size parameter.

36. The system of claim 28, wherein there is a one-to-one correspondence between the plurality of worker processes, the plurality of partitioned data streams and the plurality of communication connections.

37. A system for transmitting, data through a communication link having a bandwidth, comprising:

a communication station having a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is programmed to provide a plurality of worker objects, wherein each one of the plurality of worker objects is configured to form messages using one of a plurality of partitioned data streams, to produce a separate communication connection through the communication link, and configured as an abstraction that represents collections of methods or processes, each worker object encapsulated along with data needed to carry out the method or process of the worker object,

wherein a first worker object has a first parameter value configured to establish a first respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth and a second worker object has a second parameter value configured to establish a second respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth which is different from the first respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth,

and wherein each of the plurality of worker objects includes a set of communication connection parameters that are uniquely configurable to determine the manner in which the messages are sent by each of the plurality of worker objects to an underlying layer of the communication link.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the communication station is a sending communication gateway.

39. The system of claim 37, wherein the communication station is a receiving communication gateway.

40. The system of claim 37, wherein each of the separate communication connections uses a connection-oriented communication protocol.

41. The system of claim 37, wherein the set of communication connection parameters includes a message size parameter.

42. The system of claim 37, wherein the set of communication connection parameters includes a message size parameter and a time between calls parameter.

43. The system of claim 37, wherein the set of communication connection parameters includes a sending buffer size parameter.

44. The system of claim 37, wherein the processor is further programmed to cause messages containing a particular type of data to be sent through a particular one of the separate communication connections.

45. The system of claim 37, wherein the processor is further programmed to partition the data into the plurality of partitioned data streams based on type of data and to transfer partitioned data from one of the plurality of partitioned data streams to one of the plurality of worker objects.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein there is a one-to-one correspondence between the plurality of partitioned data streams, the plurality of worker objects and the separate communication connections.

47. The system of claim 37, wherein the set of communication connection parameters includes a time between calls parameter.

48. A method of transmitting data through a communication link by a communication gateway device, comprising the steps of:

associating each one of a plurality of worker processes to each one of a plurality of communication connections, wherein each one of the plurality of worker processes is configured to receive data, messages of the data, to send the messages containing the data to an underlying layer of the communication link having a bandwidth, and configured as an abstraction that represents collections of methods or processes, each worker process encapsulated along with data needed to carry out the method or process of the worker process;

uniquely configuring a set of communication connection parameters uniquely associated with each of the plurality of worker processes;

producing a separate communication connection for each one of the plurality of worker processes,

wherein a first worker object has a first parameter value configured to establish a first respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth and a second worker object has a second parameter value configured to establish a second respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth which is different from the first respective predetermined portion of the bandwidth; and

delivering the messages from at least one of the plurality of worker processes to the underlying layer for transmission through the communication link based on the respective set of communication connection parameters uniquely associated with the at least one of the plurality of worker process.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the step of establishing the plurality of worker processes that each receives the data and that each sends the messages to the underlying layer of the communication link includes the step of assigning a particular type of data to each of the plurality of worker processes.

50. The method of claim 48, wherein the step of uniquely configuring the set of communication connection parameters uniquely associated with each of the worker processes includes the step of configuring a message size parameter for each of the worker processes.

51. The method of claim 48, wherein the step of uniquely

configuring the set of communication connection parameters uniquely associated with each of the worker processes includes the steps of configuring a message size parameter for each of the worker processes and configuring a time between calls parameter for each of the worker processes.

52. The method of claim 48, wherein the step of uniquely configuring the set of communication connection parameters uniquely associated with each of the worker processes includes the step of configuring a sending buffer size parameter for each of the worker processes.

53. The method of claim 48, wherein the step of uniquely configuring the sets of communication connection parameters uniquely associated with each of the worker processes includes the step of configuring the sets of communication connection parameters to provide a reserved bandwidth for retransmissions.

54. The method of claim 48, wherein the step of delivering the messages from the one of the worker processes to the underlying layer for transmission through the communication link based on the set of communication connection parameters uniquely associated with the one worker process includes the step of using a timer function within the one worker process to control the rate at which the one worker process delivers the messages to the underlying layer.

55. The method of claim 48, wherein the step of uniquely configuring the set of communication connection parameters uniquely associated with each of the worker processes includes the step of configuring a time between calls parameter for each of the worker processes.