Modem count based load balancing in a cable network
First Claim
1. A Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) comprising:
- a network interface for sending and receiving data to and from a network;
RF interfaces to implement RF channels for communications between the CMTS and at least one cable modem;
registration logic for assigning selected RF channels to a requesting modem for communications between the CMTS and the modem; and
load balancing logic associated with the registration logic for selecting the RF channels to assign to the requesting modem so as to balance loading across the RF channels based on a modem count heuristic,wherein;
the CMTS is configured to maintain a channel load profile in memory for use by the load balancing logic, the channel load profile storing an effective modem count for each channel; and
the modem count heuristic implements a relative weight of each modem, for determining the effective modem count, the relative weight being inversely related to the number of channels supported by the modem.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Load balancing across RF channels in a cable plant is challenging where individual cable modems have multiple receive/transmit channels. Load balancing may be taken into account in the assignments of channels to requesting modems in a registration process. Requesting modems may be registered in a sequence of descending order defined by the number of channels requested. Channel sets may be selected to minimize a maximum delta metric of load balancing. It is preferred to normalize the “weight” of a modem on a channel based on the modem capabilities. The relative weight may be inversely related to the number of channels supported by the modem. Load balancing techniques disclosed may be applied to both upstream and downstream channels. Current load balance quality is estimated and reported to an operator.
10 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) comprising:
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a network interface for sending and receiving data to and from a network; RF interfaces to implement RF channels for communications between the CMTS and at least one cable modem; registration logic for assigning selected RF channels to a requesting modem for communications between the CMTS and the modem; and load balancing logic associated with the registration logic for selecting the RF channels to assign to the requesting modem so as to balance loading across the RF channels based on a modem count heuristic, wherein; the CMTS is configured to maintain a channel load profile in memory for use by the load balancing logic, the channel load profile storing an effective modem count for each channel; and the modem count heuristic implements a relative weight of each modem, for determining the effective modem count, the relative weight being inversely related to the number of channels supported by the modem. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) comprising:
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a network interface for sending and receiving data to and from a network; RF interfaces to implement RF channels for communications between the CMTS and at least one cable modem; registration logic for assigning selected RF channels to a requesting modem for communications between the CMTS and the modem; and load balancing logic associated with the registration logic for selecting the RF channels to assign to the requesting modem so as to balance loading across the RF channels based on a modem count heuristic; wherein the CMTS is configured to maintain a channel load profile in memory for use by the load balancing logic, the channel load profile storing an effective modem count for each channel; the modem count heuristic implements a relative weight of each modem, for determining the effective modem count, the relative weight being inversely related to the number of channels supported by the modem; and wherein the load balancing logic determines a standard deviation of the effective modem counts in the channel load profile, and selects a channel assignment allocation that minimizes standard deviation value for the resulting channel load profile.
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6. A processor-implemented method for load balancing in a cable network, comprising:
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receiving registration requests from a plurality of cable modems, each request including a receive channel profile for the corresponding modem; selecting a first one of the requesting modems that has the highest number of receive channels in the corresponding profile; assigning the requested number of receive channels to the selected modem consistent with that modem'"'"'s receive channel profile; selecting a next one of the remaining requesting modems that has a highest number of receive channels in the corresponding profile; assigning the requested number of receive channels to the next selected modem consistent with that modem'"'"'s receive channel profile; and repeating the steps of selecting a next modem, and assigning receive channels to the selected modem, so that the requesting modems are registered sequentially, from those having the most channels registered first to those having the fewest channels registered last. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A processor-implemented method for load balancing across the downstream channels of a CMTS comprising the steps of:
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receiving a registration request in a CMTS from a cable modem, the registration request including a receive channel profile indicating a number of channels available on the modem for downstream traffic flow; accessing a current channel load profile of the CMTS stored in memory, the channel load profile indicating a current number of modems per channel already assigned to each downstream channel of the CMTS; assigning downstream channels to the requesting modem consistent with the receive channel profile and selected to balance a modem count across the downstream channels of the CMTS; updating the channel load profile of the CMTS to reflect the new channel assignments; and
normalizing the modem count per channel in the current load profile responsive to a total number of supported channels for each modem. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A processor-implemented method for load balancing across the downstream channels of a CMTS comprising the steps of:
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receiving a registration request in a CMTS from a cable modem, the registration request including a receive channel profile indicating a number of channels available on the modem for downstream traffic flow; accessing a current channel load profile of the CMTS stored in memory, the channel load profile indicating a current number of modems per channel already assigned to each downstream channel of the CMTS; assigning downstream channels to the requesting modem consistent with the receive channel profile and selected to balance a modem count across the downstream channels of the CMTS; updating the channel load profile of the CMTS to reflect the new channel assignments; selecting the channel set by identifying a channel set that minimizes a maximum delta metric between channels in the load profile, wherein the delta value is defined as the difference between the highest and lowest modem counts per channel in the load profile; and ranking RCS solutions by; selecting a candidate RCS; incrementing the modem count on each channel in the load profile that belongs to the candidate RCS; finding the maximal channel count across all channels in the load profile; finding the minimal channel count across all channels in the load profile; calculating the largest difference or delta among the channel counts; storing the largest delta metric for the candidate RCS; repeating the foregoing steps to evaluate other candidate RCS solutions and determine their respective largest delta metrics; ranking the candidate RCSs according to their respective maximum delta metrics; and storing an indication of the rankings in memory for use in subsequent channel assignments. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification