Adaptive upstream bandwidth estimation and shaping
First Claim
1. A method for adaptively estimating available upstream bandwidth in a network, the method comprising:
- monitoring data indicative of a number of lost packets at a near-end communication device, the data indicative of a number of lost packets being transmitted from a far-end communication device;
increasing an amount of upstream bandwidth transmission from the near-end device to the far-end device until the monitored data exceeds a first threshold comprising generating purely a plurality of synthetic packets and transmitting a first portion of the plurality of synthetic packets at an increasing rate, wherein the plurality of synthetic packets have no purpose other than network congestion;
calculating an estimated available upstream bandwidth based on a portion of a maximum amount of the upstream bandwidth transmission;
transmitting a second portion of the plurality of synthetic packets at a decreasing amount of bandwidth until the filtered data decreases below a second threshold that is less than the first threshold, upon the monitored data exceeding the first threshold; and
estimating the available upstream bandwidth in response to the monitored data decreasing below the second threshold, the available upstream bandwidth being estimated by the bandwidth estimation logic based on a sum of the amount of bandwidth associated with the synthetic packets and an amount of bandwidth associated with transmitted voice packets.
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Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention includes a method for adaptively estimating available upstream bandwidth in a network. The method comprises monitoring data indicative of a number of lost packets at a near-end communication device. The data indicative of a number of lost packets can be periodically transmitted from a far-end communication device. The method also comprises increasing an amount of upstream bandwidth transmission until the monitored data exceeds a threshold. The method also comprises calculating an estimated available upstream bandwidth based on a portion of a maximum amount of the upstream bandwidth transmission.
40 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for adaptively estimating available upstream bandwidth in a network, the method comprising:
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monitoring data indicative of a number of lost packets at a near-end communication device, the data indicative of a number of lost packets being transmitted from a far-end communication device; increasing an amount of upstream bandwidth transmission from the near-end device to the far-end device until the monitored data exceeds a first threshold comprising generating purely a plurality of synthetic packets and transmitting a first portion of the plurality of synthetic packets at an increasing rate, wherein the plurality of synthetic packets have no purpose other than network congestion; calculating an estimated available upstream bandwidth based on a portion of a maximum amount of the upstream bandwidth transmission; transmitting a second portion of the plurality of synthetic packets at a decreasing amount of bandwidth until the filtered data decreases below a second threshold that is less than the first threshold, upon the monitored data exceeding the first threshold; and estimating the available upstream bandwidth in response to the monitored data decreasing below the second threshold, the available upstream bandwidth being estimated by the bandwidth estimation logic based on a sum of the amount of bandwidth associated with the synthetic packets and an amount of bandwidth associated with transmitted voice packets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A network terminal adapter configured to estimate and shape upstream bandwidth, the terminal adapter comprising:
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bandwidth estimation logic configured to monitor data indicative of a number of lost packets transmitted from a far-end communication device, the bandwidth estimation logic being further configured to estimate available upstream bandwidth upon the monitored data exceeding a first threshold; and an upstream traffic shaper configured to allocate upstream bandwidth between voice packets and data packets based on the available upstream bandwidth estimate, said traffic shaper comprising; a synthetic traffic generator configured to, generate only synthetic packets, the upstream traffic shaper being further configured to transmit the synthetic packets at a bandwidth that increases according to a predetermined step size, upon the monitored data exceeding the first threshold, the upstream traffic shaper transmits the synthetic packets at a decreasing amount of bandwidth until the filtered data decreases below a second threshold that is less than the first threshold, and wherein the bandwidth estimation logic estimated the available upstream bandwidth in response to the monitored data decreasing below the second threshold, the available upstream bandwidth being estimated by the bandwidth estimation logic based on a sum of the amount of bandwidth associated with the synthetic packets and an amount of bandwidth associated with the transmitted voice packets. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A communication system comprising:
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a first communication device coupled to a first computer and a first voice communication device, said first communication device comprising; a synthetic traffic generator configured to generate only synthetic packets; and a second communication device coupled to a second voice communication device, the second communication device being configured to transmit communication link packets comprising data indicative of a number of lost packets that occur in response to voice transmissions from at least the first voice communication device to the second voice communication device, the first communication device being configured to generate and transmit a first plurality of synthetic packets in an increasing amount of bandwidth, the first communication device monitoring the data indicative of a number of lost packets to generate an available bandwidth estimate for voice and data transmissions from the first communication device to the second communication device in response to the monitored data exceeding a first threshold, upon the monitored data exceeding the first threshold, the first communication device generates and transmits a second plurality of synthetic packets at a decreasing amount of bandwidth until the filtered data decreases below a second threshold that is less than the first threshold, and wherein the first communication device estimates the available upstream bandwidth in response to the monitored data decreasing below the second threshold, the available upstream bandwidth being estimated by the bandwidth estimation logic based on a sum of the amount of bandwidth associated with the synthetic packets and an amount of bandwidth associated with transmitted voice packets. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification