Quality of service securing method and apparatus

• US 8,520,558 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2006
• Issued: 08/27/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Choe, Yun-ju, Hwang, Cheol-ju, Park, Soo-hong, Kim, Young-keun, Kim, Han-sung, Yun, Won-dong, Lee, Min-ho, Jang, Jeong-rok
• Primary Examiner(s): Pezzlo, John
• Application Number:
  US11/642,780
• Publication Number:
  US 20070248028A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,441 Days
• Field of Search: 370/395.21, 370/252, 370/278, 370/331
• US Class Current: 370/278
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0002 by adapting the transmission rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0009 by adapting the channel coding H04L1/1812 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0026 Transmission of channel quality indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0027 Scheduling of signalling, e.g. occurrence thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0036 arrangements specific to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0097 Relays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/263 Rate modification at the source after receiving feedback
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0226 based on location or mobility handoff or reselection H04W36/00; mobile application services making use of the location of users or terminals H04W4/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/10 Flow control between communication endpoints
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0058 Transmission of hand-off measurement information, e.g. measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/06 Transport layer protocols, e.g. TCP [Transport Control Protocol] over wireless transmission control protocol/Internet protocol [TCP/IP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16

Abstract

A quality of service (QoS) securing apparatus and method using a communication protocol is provided. The QoS securing method is performed by a reception side that is receiving data from a transmission side. The method includes generating information about a changed communication environment according to a change in a communication environment of the reception side, and transmitting the information to the transmission side. An exchange of information about a communication environment using the communication protocol between the reception side and the transmission side can inform the transmission side about resources of the reception side, link characteristics, characteristics of a link on a transmission path, etc., thereby securing a QoS of data communication between the reception side and the transmission side.

Claims

1. A quality of service (QoS) securing method, comprising:

receiving, by a first apparatus, data transmitted from a second apparatus;

generating, by the first apparatus, a communication environment update request message according to a change in a communication environment of the first apparatus, the first apparatus being in communication with the second apparatus, and the message comprising information about characteristics of a link of the changed communication environment and/or information about useable resources for processing data being received by the first apparatus in the changed communication environment, wherein the information about characteristics of the link of the changed communication environment includes information that is added or corrected on a transmission path from the reception side to the transmission side;

transmitting, by the first apparatus, the communication environment update request message to the second apparatus due to an impending change in network by the first apparatus;

receiving, by the second apparatus, the communication environment update request message from the first apparatus;

updating, by the second apparatus, a QoS of data transmission between the first apparatus and the second apparatus based on the received communication environment update request message;

transmitting, by the second apparatus, response information to the first apparatus, when the second apparatus is ready to transmit data based on the updated QoS;

performing a handover, by the first apparatus, after receipt of the response information from the second apparatus; and

transmitting data from the second apparatus to the first apparatus according to the updated QoS.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information about the link characteristics is information about characteristics of a link of a second network when the first apparatus performs a handover from a first network to the second network.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein transmitting the message comprises transmitting the information about the characteristics of the link of the second network before the handover is performed.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information about the link characteristics comprises additional information that can be added or corrected on a transmission path from the first apparatus and the second apparatus.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising detecting the link characteristics from an access point (AP) or a router of a network to which the first apparatus belongs.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information about the useable resources comprises at least one of a CPU, a video/audio codec, a display resolution, a memory, and the size of a receiving buffer of the first apparatus.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

dividing the communication environment including the first apparatus into a plurality of levels according to a quality of the communication environment; and

allocating a coefficient to each of the plurality of levels,

wherein the transmitting of the information to the transmission side comprises transmitting the allocated coefficients to the transmitting apparatus.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data comprises streaming data.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a communication environment information generator generating information about a changed communication environment of the apparatus, wherein the apparatus is in communication with an external apparatus and has received data from the external apparatus; and

a transceiver transmitting the information about the changed communication environment to the external apparatus, and receiving data from the external apparatus according to a changed quality of service (QoS),

wherein the external apparatus changes a QoS of data transmission based on the information about the changed communication environment received from the apparatus, and

wherein the changed communication environment comprises changes in characteristics of a link detected by analyzing a beacon signal periodically transmitted from an AP or a router of a network to which the apparatus belongs, wherein the information about characteristics of the link of the changed communication environment includes information that is added or corrected on a transmission path from the apparatus to the external apparatus.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the information about the changed communication environment further comprises information about useable resources for processing data being received by the apparatus in the changed communication environment.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the information about the link characteristics includes information about the characteristics of the link, that is added or corrected on the transmission path, from the apparatus to the external apparatus.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a link characteristics detector detecting the link characteristics from the AP or the router of the network to which the apparatus belongs.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the communication environment generator divides the communication environment of the apparatus into a plurality of levels according to a status of the communication environment and allocates a coefficient to each of the plurality of levels, and

wherein the apparatus transmits the allocated coefficients to the external apparatus.

14. A quality of service (QoS) securing method comprising:

transmitting data to an apparatus;

receiving information about a changed communication environment of the apparatus from the apparatus, wherein the changed communication environment comprises changes in characteristics of a link detected by analyzing a beacon signal periodically transmitted from an AP or a router of a network to which the apparatus belongs, wherein the information about characteristics of the link of the changed communication environment includes information that is added or corrected on a transmission path from the apparatus;

changing a QoS for data transmission to be transmitted to the apparatus based on the received information; and

transmitting data to the apparatus according to the changed QoS.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the information about the communication environment further comprises information about useable resources for processing data to be transmitted to the apparatus in the communication environment of the apparatus.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the changing of the QoS comprises changing forward error correction (FEC) of data to be transmitted to the apparatus according to a change in bit error rate (BER) included in the received information about the link characteristics.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the changing of the QoS comprises changing at least one of the number of frames per second, resolution, and compressibility of the data to be transmitted to the apparatus according to a change in a data transmission speed included in the received information about the link characteristics.

18. The method according to claim 14, further comprising:

generating response information indicating that the QoS for the data transmission has been changed based upon the received information about the communication environment of the apparatus; and

transmitting the generated response information to the apparatus.

19. A quality of service (QoS) securing apparatus comprising:

a transmitter transmitting data to a device;

a communication environment information receiver receiving information about a changed communication environment of the device, wherein the changed communication environment comprises changes in characteristics of a link detected by analyzing a beacon signal periodically transmitted from an AP or a router of a network to which the device belongs and wherein the information receiver receives the information about the changed communication environment after the transmitter has transmitted data to the device, wherein the information about characteristics of the link of the changed communication environment includes information that is added or corrected on a transmission path from the device; and

a QoS controller, configured to change a QoS for data transmission based upon the received information about the communication environment of the device,

wherein the QoS securing apparatus transmits data to the device according to the changed QoS.

20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the information about the communication environment further comprises information about useable resources for processing data being received by the device in the communication environment of the device.

21. The apparatus according to claim 20, further comprising:

a response information generator generating response information indicating that the QoS for the data transmission has been changed based upon the information about the communication environment,

wherein the apparatus transmits the response information to the device.

22. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the QoS controller changes forward error correction (FEC) of data to be transmitted to the device according to a change in bit error rate (BER) included in the received information about the link characteristics.

23. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the QoS controller changes at least one of a number of frames per second, resolution, and compressibility of the data to be transmitted to the device based upon a change in a data transmission speed included in the information about the link characteristics.

24. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium encoded with computer executable instructions comprising:

receiving, by a first apparatus, data transmitted from a second apparatus;

generating, by the first apparatus, a communication environment update request message according to a change in a communication environment of the first apparatus, the first apparatus being in communication with the second apparatus, and the message comprising information about characteristics of a link of the changed communication environment and/or information about useable resources for processing data being received by the first apparatus in the changed communication environment, wherein the information about characteristics of the link of the changed communication environment includes information that is added or corrected on a transmission path from the first apparatus to the second apparatus;

transmitting, by the first apparatus, the communication environment update request message to the second apparatus due to an impending change in network by the first apparatus;

receiving, by the second apparatus, the communication environment update request message from the first apparatus;

transmitting, by the second apparatus, response information to the first apparatus after receiving the communication environment update request message;

updating, by the second apparatus, a quality of service (QoS) of data transmission between the first apparatus and the second apparatus based on the received communication environment update request message;

performing a handover, by the first apparatus, after receipt of the response information from the second apparatus; and

transmitting data from the second apparatus to the first apparatus according to the updated QoS.

25. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium encoded with computer executable instructions comprising:

transmitting data to an apparatus;

receiving information about a changed communication environment of the apparatus from the apparatus, wherein the changed communication environment comprises changes in characteristics of a link detected by analyzing a beacon signal periodically transmitted from an AP or a router of a network to which the apparatus belongs, wherein the information about characteristics of the link of the changed communication environment includes information that is added or corrected on a transmission path from the apparatus;

changing a quality of service (QoS) for data transmission to be transmitted to the apparatus based on the received information; and

transmitting data to the apparatus according to the changed QoS.

26. A method of securing a quality of service (QoS), comprising:

receiving, by a first apparatus, data transmitted from a second apparatus;

generating, by the first apparatus, information about a changed communication environment of the first apparatus, wherein the changed communication environment comprises changes in characteristics of a link detected by analyzing a beacon signal periodically transmitted from an AP or a router of a network to which the first apparatus belongs, wherein the information about characteristics of the link of the changed communication environment includes information that is added or corrected on a transmission path from the first apparatus to the second apparatus;

adding or correcting, by the first apparatus, the information based on characteristics of the changes in the link;

transmitting the added or corrected information from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and

receiving, by the first apparatus, data from the second apparatus according to a QoS for transmission of the data between the first apparatus and the second apparatus, the QoS being changed based on the transmitted added or corrected information.

27. A quality of service (QoS) securing apparatus comprising:

a transmitter to transmit data to a network device;

a transceiver to receive added or corrected information about a changed communication environment of the network device from the device, wherein the information can be added or corrected by a modifier of the device based on changes in characteristics of a link detected by analyzing a beacon signal periodically transmitted from an AP or a router of a network to which the device belongs and wherein the transreceiver receives the corrected information about the changed communication environment after the transmitter has transmitted data to the network device, wherein the information about characteristics of the link of the changed communication environment includes information that is added or corrected on a transmission path from the apparatus to the network device; and

a QoS modifier configured to modify

a QoS for transmission of the data to be transmitted from the apparatus to the device based on the added or corrected information received from the device and transmit data to the device according to the modified QoS.

28. The apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the apparatus is a router.

29. A router situated on a transmission path between a first network device and a second network device to receive information about a changed communication environment transmitted from the first device, the router comprising:

a transmitter to transmit data to the first device from the second device;

a transceiver to receive the information about the changed communication environment of the first device from the first device, wherein the changed communication environment comprises changes in characteristics of a link detected by analyzing a beacon signal periodically transmitted from an AP or a router of a network to which the first device belongs and wherein the transreceiver receives the information about the changed communication environment after the transmitter has transmitted data to first device, wherein the information about characteristics of the link of the changed communication environment includes information that is added or corrected on a transmission path from the first device to the second device; and

an updater to add or correct the information about the changed communication environment of the first device based on the characteristics of the link,

wherein the transceiver transmits the added or corrected information to the second device, and

wherein the second device changes a quality of service (QoS) for transmission of data based on the added or corrected information received from the router and transmits the data to the first device according to the changed QoS.

30. A non-transitory computer readable recordable medium encoded with computer executable instructions, the instructions comprising:

transmitting data to an apparatus;

receiving information about a changed communication environment of a first device from the first device, wherein the changed communication environment comprises changes in characteristics of a link detected by analyzing a beacon signal periodically transmitted from an AP or a router of a network to which the first device belongs, wherein the information about characteristics of the link of the changed communication environment includes information that is added or corrected on a transmission path from the first device;

adding or correcting the information about the changed communication environment of the first device based on the characteristics of the link; and

transmitting the added or corrected information to the second device,

wherein the second device changes a quality of service (QoS) for transmission of data based on the added or corrected information and transmits the data to the first device according to the changed QoS.