Multiplexing several individual application sessions over a pre-allocated reservation protocol session
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- establishing a reservation protocol session on a network over a path between a first network device associated with a first set of terminals and a second network device associated with a second set of terminals, the establishing being based at least in part on estimated usage of network resources based on historical data;
receiving, at the first network device from at least one of the first set of terminals, a first media stream associated with a first communication session involving the at least one of the first set of terminals and at least one of the second set of terminals, the one of the first set of terminals and the one of the second set of terminals having no knowledge of how to establish and maintain reservation protocol sessions; and
if adequate resources are available in the reservation protocol session, transferring the first media stream over the path by multiplexing the first media stream and media streams associated with one or more other communication sessions onto the reservation protocol session.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and methods are provided for multiplexing application flows. According to one embodiment, a predetermined portion of available bandwidth is reserved over a path through a network communicatively coupling a first network device associated with a first set of terminals and a second network device associated with a second set of terminals for real-time communication sessions among multiple applications running on the first set of terminals and the second set of terminals as a real-time bandwidth pool. The real-time bandwidth pool is thereafter shared among multiple real-time communication sessions involving one or more terminals in the first set of terminals and one or more terminals in the second set of terminals by selectively admitting application sessions involving the one or more terminals in the first set of terminals and the one or more terminals in the second set of terminals based upon currently available resources in the real-time bandwidth pool.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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establishing a reservation protocol session on a network over a path between a first network device associated with a first set of terminals and a second network device associated with a second set of terminals, the establishing being based at least in part on estimated usage of network resources based on historical data; receiving, at the first network device from at least one of the first set of terminals, a first media stream associated with a first communication session involving the at least one of the first set of terminals and at least one of the second set of terminals, the one of the first set of terminals and the one of the second set of terminals having no knowledge of how to establish and maintain reservation protocol sessions; and if adequate resources are available in the reservation protocol session, transferring the first media stream over the path by multiplexing the first media stream and media streams associated with one or more other communication sessions onto the reservation protocol session. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method to configure network communication, the method comprising:
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determining a portion of available bandwidth on a network for a plurality of communication sessions involving a first network device and a second network device, wherein each communication session is associated with a respective media stream, the determining being based at least in part on estimated usage of resources of the network based on historical data; reserving the determined portion of the available bandwidth over a path between the first network device and the second network device on the network; determining whether adequate bandwidth is available in the reserved portion for a first communication session between a first community node associated with the first network device and a second community node associated with the second network device; and if the adequate bandwidth is available, multiplexing the respective media streams associated with the first communication session and one or more other communication sessions into a first multiplexed stream, and prior to transferring a media stream associated with the first communication session over the path, for each of one or more media packets in the media stream, the first network device forming an encapsulated media packet by appending to the media packet a network address of a source application on the first community node that allows the second network device to forward the media packet to the second community node by looking up, based on the network address of the source application, a network address of a destination application on the second community node. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A first network device comprising:
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a processor; and a memory medium configured to store program instructions executable by the processor to cause the first network device to; determine, based at least in part on estimated usage of network resources based on historical data, a portion of available bandwidth on a network for a plurality of communication sessions involving the first network device and a second network device, wherein each communication session is associated with a respective media stream; reserve the determined portion of the available bandwidth over a path between the first network device and the second network device on the network; determine whether adequate bandwidth is available in the reserved portion for a first communication session between a first terminal associated with the first network device and a second terminal associated with the second network device; and if the adequate bandwidth is available, multiplex respective media streams associated with the first communication session and one or more other communication sessions into a first multiplexed stream, and prior to transferring a media stream associated with the first communication session over the path, for each of one or more media packets in the media stream, the first network device forming an encapsulated media packet by appending to the media packet a network address of a source application on the first terminal that allows the second network device to forward the media packet to the second terminal by looking up, based on the network address of the source application a network address of a destination application on the second terminal. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method comprising:
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reserving a predetermined portion of available bandwidth over a path through a network communicatively coupling a first network device associated with a first set of terminals and a second network device associated with a second set of terminals for communication sessions among the first set of terminals and the second set of terminals as a bandwidth pool, the reserving being based at least in part on estimated usage of resources of the network based on historical data, the first set of terminals and the second set of terminals having no knowledge of how to establish and maintain reservation protocol sessions; sharing the bandwidth pool among a plurality of communication sessions involving one or more terminals in the first set of terminals and one or more terminals in the second set of terminals; determining whether adequate bandwidth is available in the bandwidth pool for an additional communication session; and if the adequate bandwidth is available, sharing the bandwidth pool with the additional communication session. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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34. A first network device associated with a first set of terminals, the first network device comprising:
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a resource manager implemented using hardware and including means for establishing, based at least in part on estimated usage of network resources based on historical data, a reservation protocol session on a network over a path between the first network device and a second network device associated with a second set of terminals, the first set of terminals and the second set of terminals having no knowledge of how to establish and maintain reservation protocol sessions; and a media multiplexer implemented using hardware and including; means for receiving, from at least one of the first set of terminals, a first media stream associated with a first communication session involving the at least one of the first set of terminals and at least one of the second set of terminals, and means for transferring, if adequate resources are available in the reservation protocol session, the first media stream over the path by multiplexing the first media stream and media streams associated with one or more other communication sessions onto the reservation protocol session. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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37. A machine-readable medium implemented as a memory or disk, the machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by a processor of a first network device to cause the first network device to perform operations comprising:
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establishing a reservation protocol session on a network over a path between the first network device associated with a first set of terminals and a second network device associated with a second set of terminals, the establishing being based at least in part on estimated usage of network resources based on historical data, the first set of terminals and the second set of terminals having no knowledge of how to establish and maintain reservation protocol sessions; receiving, from at least one of the first set of terminals, a first media stream associated with a first communication session involving the at least one of the first set of terminals and at least one of the second set of terminals; and if adequate resources are available in the reservation protocol session, transferring the first media stream over the path by multiplexing the first media stream and media streams associated with one or more other communication sessions onto the reservation protocol session. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification