Multicast to unicast conversion technique
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- identifying a subplurality of traffic identifier (TID) queues associated with a multicast packet;
converting the multicast packet into a multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet for the subplurality of TID queues;
enqueueing the multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet in available TID queues of the subplurality of TID queues, wherein availability of the subplurality of TID queues is based on an amount of unused space in each TID queue of the subplurality of TID queues;
dequeueing the multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet from a TID queue of the available TID queues according to a token bucket checking cycle applied to the subplurality of TID queues;
transmitting the multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet to a destination.
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Abstract
A technique allows stations to utilize an equal share of resources (e.g., airtime or throughput). This prevents slow stations from consuming too many resources (e.g., using up too much air time). Fairness is ensured by selective dropping after a multicast packet is converted to unicast. This prevents slow stations from using more than their share of buffer resources. Multicast conversion aware back-pressure into the network layer can be used to prevent unnecessary dropping of packets after multicast to unicast (1:n) conversion by considering duplicated transmit buffers. This technique helps achieve airtime/resource fairness among stations.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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identifying a subplurality of traffic identifier (TID) queues associated with a multicast packet; converting the multicast packet into a multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet for the subplurality of TID queues; enqueueing the multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet in available TID queues of the subplurality of TID queues, wherein availability of the subplurality of TID queues is based on an amount of unused space in each TID queue of the subplurality of TID queues; dequeueing the multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet from a TID queue of the available TID queues according to a token bucket checking cycle applied to the subplurality of TID queues; transmitting the multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet to a destination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system comprising:
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a backpressure alleviation engine configured to identify a subplurality of traffic identifier (TID) queues associated with a multicast packet; a multicast-to-unicast conversion engine configured to convert the multicast packet into a multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet for the subplurality of TID queues; a TID queuing engine configured to enqueue the multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet in available TID queues of the subplurality of TID queues, availability of the subplurality of TID queues based on an amount of unused space in each TID queue of the subplurality of TID queues; a TID-to-Access Category (AC) scheduling engine configured to dequeue the multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet from a TID queue of the available TID queues according to a token bucket checking cycle applied to the subplurality of TID queues; a medium interface configured to transmit the multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet to a destination. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system comprising:
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means for identifying a subplurality of traffic identifier (TID) queues associated with a multicast packet; means for converting the multicast packet into a multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet for the subplurality of TID queues; means for enqueueing the multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet in available TID queues of the subplurality of TID queues, wherein availability of the subplurality of TID queues is based on an amount of unused space in each TID queue of the subplurality of TID queues; means for dequeueing the multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet from a TID queue of the available TID queues according to a token bucket checking cycle applied to the subplurality of TID queues; means for transmitting the multicast-to-unicast converted unicast packet to a destination.
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Specification