Method and apparatus for managing keepalive transmissions

• US 20040264381A1
• Filed: 06/26/2003
• Published: 12/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AirBNB Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Vallabhaneni, Vasu, Banerjee, Dwip N., Venkatsubra, Venkat, Jain, Vinit
• Granted Patent: US 7,526,556 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/163 In-band adaptation of TCP data exchange; In-band control procedures

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and computer instructions for managing keepalive transmissions. A keepalive packet is received from a remote data processing over a particular connection within a set of connections to the remote data processing system. Timers for each of the set of connections are reset in response to receiving a response to a keepalive packet from the remote data processing system such that only a single keepalive packet is required to maintain all of the plurality of connections with the remote data processing system. In this manner, the number of requests and responses with respect to whether a connection is active is minimized, reducing congestion in a network data processing system.

Claims

1. A method in a data processing system for managing keepalive transmissions, the method comprising:

sending a keepalive packet to a remote data processing system over a particular connection within a plurality of connections to the remote data processing system; and

responsive to receiving a selected response to the keepalive packet, resetting timers for each of the set of connections, wherein transmissions of keepalive packets are reduced.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

responsive to receiving data over any of the set of connections, resetting timers for each of the set of connections.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

responsive to receiving a reset message over the particular connection, terminating all of the set of connections.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

responsive to receiving a reset message over the particular connection, only terminating the particular connection.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected response is an acknowledgement of the keepalive packet.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

responsive to receiving a message unassociated with the keepalive packet, resetting the timers for each of the set of connections.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is implemented in a TCP/IP stack.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular connection is selected using a policy.

9. A method in a data processing system for managing keepalive transmissions for a plurality of connections with a remote data processing system, the method comprising:

identifying a requirement to send a keepalive packet to the remote data processing system; and

sending the keepalive packet to the remote data processing system using a connection within the plurality of connections, wherein the connection is selected using a policy.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the policy selects the connection using a round robin mechanism.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the policy selects a selected connection over which the keepalive packet is to be sent to the remote data processing system.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

responsive to receiving a selected response to the keepalive packet, maintaining the plurality of connections.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the selected response is an acknowledgement of the keepalive packet.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the maintaining step includes resetting timers for the plurality of connections.

15. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

responsive to receiving a request for a new connection, identifying a requesting data processing system for the request; and

adding the new connection to the plurality of connections if the requesting data processing system is the remote data processing system.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the requesting data processing system is identified using an IP address received in the request.

17. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

maintaining the plurality of connections if a message is received over one of the plurality of connections to the remote data processing system.

18. A data processing system for managing keepalive transmissions, the data processing system comprising:

a bus system;

a communications unit connected to the bus system;

a memory connected to the bus system, wherein the memory includes a set of instructions; and

a processing unit connected to the bus system, wherein the processing unit executes the set of instructions to send a keepalive packet to a remote data processing system over a particular connection within a plurality of connections to the remote data processing system; and

reset timers for each of the set of connections in which transmissions of keepalive packets are reduced in response to receiving a selected response to the keepalive packet.

19. A data processing system for managing keepalive transmissions for a plurality of connections with a remote data processing system, the data processing system comprising:

a bus system;

a communications unit connected to the bus system;

a memory connected to the bus system, wherein the memory includes a set of instructions; and

a processing unit connected to the bus system, wherein the processing unit executes the set of instructions to identify a requirement to send a keepalive packet to the remote data processing system; and

send the keepalive packet to the remote data processing system using a connection within the plurality of connections in which the connection is selected using a policy.

20. A data processing system for managing keepalive transmissions, the data processing system comprising:

sending means for sending a keepalive packet to a remote data processing system over a particular connection within a plurality of connections to the remote data processing system; and

resetting means, responsive to receiving a selected response to the keepalive packet, for resetting timers for each of the set of connections, wherein transmissions of keepalive packets are reduced.

21. The data processing system of claim 20, wherein the selected response is an acknowledgement of the keepalive packet.

22. The data processing system of claim 20, wherein the resetting means is a first resetting means and further comprising:

second resetting means, responsive to receiving a message unassociated with the keepalive packet, for resetting the timers for each of the set of connections.

23. The data processing system of claim 20, wherein the method is implemented in a TCP/IP stack.

24. The data processing system of claim 20, wherein the particular connection is selected using a policy.

25. A data processing system for managing keepalive transmissions for a plurality of connections with a remote data processing system, the data processing system comprising:

identifying means for identifying a requirement to send a keepalive packet to the remote data processing system; and

sending means for sending the keepalive packet to the remote data processing system using a connection within the plurality of connections, wherein the connection is selected using a policy.

26. The data processing system of claim 25, wherein the policy selects the connection using a round robin mechanism.

27. The data processing system of claim 25, wherein the policy selects a selected connection over which the keepalive packet is to be sent to the remote data processing system.

28. The data processing system of claim 25 further comprising:

maintaining means, responsive to receiving a selected response to the keepalive packet, for maintaining the plurality of connections.

29. The data processing system of claim 28, wherein the selected response is an acknowledgement of the keepalive packet.

30. The data processing system of claim 28, wherein the maintaining means includes resetting timers for the plurality of connections.

31. The data processing system of claim 25, wherein the identifying means is a first identifying means and further comprising:

second identifying means, responsive to receiving a request for a new connection, for identifying a requesting data processing system for the request; and

adding means for adding the new connection to the plurality of connections if the requesting data processing system is the remote data processing system.

32. The data processing system of claim 31, wherein the requesting data processing system is identified using an IP address received in the request.

33. The data processing system of claim 25 further comprising:

updating means for updating keepalive timers for the plurality of connections if a message is received over one of the plurality of connections to the remote data processing system.

34. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for managing keepalive transmissions, the computer program product comprising:

first instructions for sending a keepalive packet to a remote data processing system over a particular connection within a plurality of connections to the remote data processing system; and

second instructions, responsive to receiving a selected response to the keepalive packet, for resetting timers for each of the set of connections, wherein transmissions of keepalive packets are reduced.

35. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the selected response is an acknowledgement of the keepalive packet.

36. The computer program product of claim 34 further comprising:

third instructions, responsive to receiving a message unassociated with the keepalive packet, for resetting the timers for each of the set of connections.

37. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the method is implemented in a TCP/IP stack.

38. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the particular connection is selected using a policy.

39. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for managing keepalive transmissions for a plurality of connections with a remote data processing system, the computer program product comprising:

first instructions for identifying a requirement to send a keepalive packet to the remote data processing system; and

second instructions for sending the keepalive packet to the remote data processing system using a connection within the plurality of connections, wherein the connection is selected using a policy.

40. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the policy selects the connection using a round robin mechanism.

41. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the policy selects a selected connection over which the keepalive packet is to be sent to the remote data processing system.

42. The computer program product of claim 39 further comprising:

third instructions, responsive to receiving a selected response to the keepalive packet, for maintaining the plurality of connections.

43. The computer program product of claim 42, wherein the selected response is an acknowledgement of the keepalive packet.

44. The computer program product of claim 42, wherein the third instructions include resetting timers for the plurality of connections.

45. The computer program product of claim 39 further comprising:

fourth instructions, responsive to receiving a request for a new connection, for identifying a requesting data processing system for the request; and

fifth instructions for adding the new connection to the plurality of connections if the requesting data processing system is the remote data processing system.

46. The computer program product of claim 45, wherein the requesting data processing system is identified using an IP address received in the request.

47. The computer program product of claim 39 further comprising:

third instructions for maintaining the plurality of connections if a message is received over one of the plurality of connections to the remote data processing system.