Communication network and method for transmitting data packets in the communication network

• US 9,585,053 B2
• Filed: 05/17/2013
• Issued: 02/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Scheffel, Matthias
• Primary Examiner(s): Huq, Obaidul
• Application Number:
  US14/408,236
• Publication Number:
  US 20150124620A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,383 Days
• Field of Search: 370/229, 370/235, 370/236, 370/310, 370/315, 370/316, 370/319, 370/321, 370/324, 370/345, 370/350, 370/351, 370/352, 370/355, 370/389, 370/412, 370/357, 370/428, 370/464, 370/498, 370/503, 370/509, 370/512
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/06 Synchronising arrangements for television systems H04N5/04; bit-synchronisation H04L7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40156 by using dedicated slots associated with a priority level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4035 in which slots of a TDMA packet structure are assigned based on a contention resolution carried out at a master unit TDM/TDMA multiplex systems per se H04J3/1694; hybrid switching systems H04L12/64
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40221 Profibus
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/6215 Individual queue per QOS, rate or priority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/6255 queue load conditions, e.g. longest queue first
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/6275 based on priority
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0278 using buffer status reports dynamic wireless traffic scheduling definition H04W72/12

Abstract

A communications network, computer program product and method for transmitting data packets in the communications network comprising synchronized nodes via a predetermined path in the communications network, wherein the synchronized nodes of the predetermined path include a source node, a target node and at least one intermediate node, the synchronized nodes synchronously feed data packets into the predetermined path and each have first and second buffers for respectively buffering high-priority data packets and low-priority data packets, wherein each intermediate node having an empty first buffer at a given point in time, and to which the source node feeds a high-priority data packet into the predetermined path toward the target node, generates a second high-priority data packet and feeds the generated second high-priority data packet into the predetermined path toward the target node so as to ensure high-priority data packets on the predetermined path are not delayed by low-priority data packets.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting data packets in a communication network comprising synchronized nodes via a predetermined path in the communication network, wherein the synchronized nodes of the predetermined path comprise a source node, a destination node and at least one intermediate node, said synchronized nodes feeding synchronized data packets into the predetermined path and each having a first buffer store for buffer-storing high-priority data packets comprising control and regulatory data and a second buffer store for buffer-storing low-priority data packets, the method comprising:

generating, by the at least one intermediate nodes, a second high-priority data packet when said at least one intermediate nodes has an empty first buffer store at a particular instant at which the source node feeds a first high-priority data packet comprising control and regulatory data into the predetermined path toward the destination node; and

feeding the generated second high-priority data packet into the predetermined path toward the destination node.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one intermediate node having the empty first buffer store, at the particular instant and having a second buffer store filled with at least one low-priority data packet comprising control and regulatory data at the particular instant, generates the second high-priority data packet and feeds the generated second high-priority data packet into the predetermined path toward the destination node.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein a length of the second high-priority data packet is set based on a length of the first high-priority data packet comprising control and regulatory data.

4. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein a length of the second high-priority data packet is set based on a maximum length of the low-priority data packets.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a length of the second high-priority data packet is set based on a length of the first high-priority data packet comprising control and regulatory data.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the length of the second high-priority data packet is set based on a maximum length of the low-priority data packets.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a length of the second high-priority data packet is set based on a maximum length of the low-priority data packets.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the synchronized nodes of the communication network are synchronized via a time-division multiplexing method, and wherein the particular instant utilized is a beginning of a particular time window of the time-division multiplexing method.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the time-division multiplexing method provides first time windows for an isochronous realtime service, second time windows for a nonisochronous realtime service and third time windows for a nonrealtime service, and wherein the particular instant utilized is a beginning of the second time window or a beginning of the third time window.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the high-priority comprising control and regulatory data and low-priority data packets are forwarded in the second time window and in the third time window based on priorities associated with the high-priority comprising control and regulatory data and low-priority data packets.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication network comprises an Ethernet network.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the Ethernet network comprises a PROFINET network.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the high-priority data packets comprising control and regulatory data have a first maximum data packet length and the low-priority data packets have a second maximum data packet length which is greater than the first maximum data packet length.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second high-priority data packet is generated by segmentation of a low-priority data packet stored in the second buffer store.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second high-priority data packet is generated as a dummy data packet, particularly without useful data.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dummy data packet is devoid of useful data.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein if a propagation time for a data packet between two nodes of the synchronized nodes of the predetermined path is shorter than a prescribed minimum interval of time between two data packets of the synchronized data packets that are to be fed in at a node of the predetermined path, then a header of a data packet arriving and not yet completely received at the intermediate node is evaluated, and wherein the evaluated header is taken as a basis for one of (i) the second high-priority data packet to be generated by the intermediate node and fed into the predetermined path and (ii) an arriving data packet to be received completely and then re-fed by the intermediate node into the predetermined data path.

18. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein if a propagation time for a data packet between two nodes of the synchronized nodes of the predetermined path is shorter than a prescribed minimum interval of time between two data packets of the synchronized data packets that are to be fed in at a node of the predetermined path, then exclusively high-priority data packets comprising control and regulatory data are fed from the intermediate nodes into the predetermined path.

19. A non-transitory computer program product encoded with a computer program, which when executed on a program-controlled device, causes performance of a method comprising:

generating, by at least one intermediate nodes, a second high-priority data packet when said at least one intermediate nodes has an empty first buffer store at a particular instant at which a source node feeds a first high-priority data packet comprising control and regulatory data into a predetermined path toward a destination node; and

feeding the generated second high-priority data packet into the predetermined path toward the destination node.

20. A communication network comprising:

synchronized nodes for transmitting data packets via a predetermined path in the communication network;

wherein the synchronized nodes of the predetermined path comprise a source node, a destination node and at least one intermediate node, feed data packets into the predetermined path in synchronized form and each of the synchronized nodes include a first buffer store for buffer-storing high-priority data packets comprising control and regulatory data and a second buffer store for buffer-storing low-priority data packets; and

wherein each of the intermediate nodes having an empty first buffer store at a particular instant at which the source node feeds a first high-priority data packet comprising control and regulatory data into the predetermined path in the direction of the destination node is configured to generate a second high-priority data packet and to feed the generated second high-priority data packet into the predetermined path toward the destination node.