Multicast to unicast conversion technique
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- receiving, through a network, downlink traffic of a multicast packet stream with a plurality of stations addressed as recipients of the multicast packet stream;
allocating to stations of the plurality of stations a share of network resources for use by the plurality of stations in accessing network services of the network;
enqueuing a multicast packet in the multicast packet stream into a backpressure-controlled multicast queue;
converting the multicast packet into a plurality of unicast packets for transmission to the stations of the plurality of stations;
selectively dropping at least one unicast packet of the plurality of unicast packets according to an amount of the share of network resources consumed by the stations of the plurality of stations to maintain buffer fairness.
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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
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving, through a network, downlink traffic of a multicast packet stream with a plurality of stations addressed as recipients of the multicast packet stream; allocating to stations of the plurality of stations a share of network resources for use by the plurality of stations in accessing network services of the network; enqueuing a multicast packet in the multicast packet stream into a backpressure-controlled multicast queue; converting the multicast packet into a plurality of unicast packets for transmission to the stations of the plurality of stations; selectively dropping at least one unicast packet of the plurality of unicast packets according to an amount of the share of network resources consumed by the stations of the plurality of stations to maintain buffer fairness. - 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 point of presence interface configured to receive, through a network, downlink traffic of a multicast packet stream with a plurality of stations addressed as recipients of the multicast packet stream; a multicast-to-unicast conversion high session performance system configured to allocate to stations of the plurality of stations a share of network resources for use by the plurality of stations in accessing network services of the network; a queuing engine configured to enqueue a multicast packet in the multicast packet stream into a backpressure-controlled multicast queue; a scheduling engine configured to; convert the multicast packet into a plurality of unicast packets for transmission to the stations of the plurality of stations; selectively drop at least one unicast packet of the plurality of unicast packets according to an amount of the share of network resources consumed by the stations of the plurality of stations to maintain buffer fairness. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system comprising:
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means for receiving, through a network, downlink traffic of a multicast packet stream with a plurality of stations addressed as recipients of the multicast packet stream; means for allocating to stations of the plurality of stations a share of network resources for use by the plurality of stations in accessing network services of the network; means for enqueuing a multicast packet in the multicast packet stream into a backpressure-controlled multicast queue; means for converting the multicast packet into a plurality of unicast packets for transmission to the stations of the plurality of stations; means for selectively dropping at least one unicast packet of the plurality of unicast packets according to an amount of the share of network resources consumed by the stations of the plurality of stations to maintain buffer fairness.
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Specification